Pilot treatment of olive pomace leachate by vertical-flow constructed wetland and electrochemical oxidation: An efficient hybrid process

A hybrid process comprising biological degradation in a vertical-flow constructed wetland (CW) and electrochemical oxidation over boron-doped diamond electrodes to decolorize, mineralize and detoxify a leachate from olive pomace processing (OPL) was investigated. Two alternative treatment schemes were compared: According to the first treatment scheme, OPL was treated by electrochemical oxidation followed by treatment in a constructed wetland pilot unit (CW-A). The second scheme comprised of treatment in a constructed wetland followed by electrochemical treatment (CW-B). The constructed wetlands units were planted with Phragmites australis (reeds) and were fed intermittently at organic loadings between 5 and 15 g COD m(-2) d(-1) and a residence time of 3 d. Electrochemical oxidation (EO) was performed for 360 min at 20 A. Treatment of OPL in the wetland at 15 g COD m(-2) d(-1) led to mean COD and color reduction of 86% and 77%, respectively; the wetland effluent with a COD of about 800 mg L-1 was polished electrochemically for 360 min after which the overall COD and color removal of the combined process (i.e. CW-B/EO) was around 95%, while the final effluent was not toxic against the marine bacteria Vibrio fischeri. Electrochemical oxidation of the original OPL at COD values between 6250 and 14 100 mg L-1 led to moderate COD and color reduction (i.e. less than 40%) through zero order kinetics. When this was coupled to constructed wetland post-treatment (i.e. EO/CW-A), the overall COD and color removal was 81% and 58%, respectively. The decreased efficiency may be assigned to the increased toxicity of the electrochemically treated effluent which was only partially removed in the natural treatment system. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.