Valorization of olive mill wastewater using physical, chemical, and biological treatment

The olive oil industry is considered one of the industries that pollute the environment. Because it is accompanied by solid and liquid waste that is difficult to deal with and causes much damage to the environment. Therefore, this research aims for the safe handling and disposal of high organic loads and phenolic compounds present in this type of industrial wastewater. The advanced oxida-tion represented by the Fenton reaction was used to get rid of phenolic compounds and organic loads. The concentration of organic loads expressed by chemical oxygen demand (COD), bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD), and total suspended solids (TSS) in industrial wastewater was 71,000; 12,280 and 21,265 mg/L. The phenol concentration reached 8,754 mg/L. The Fenton reac-tion removes COD, BOD, TSS, and phenols by 93.6%, 76.5%, 99.7%, and 99.966%, respectively. The aerobic sand filter (ASF) was used as a secondary treatment stage. The ASF effectively removed COD, BOD, TSS, and phenol by 79%, 87.6%, 60%, and 97.7%, respectively. The combination of treatment using the advanced oxidation reaction (Fenton oxidation) with the ASF has proven to be very effective in treating olive mill water.