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Olive mill wastewater disposal in evaporation ponds in Sfax (Tunisia): moisture content effect on microbiological and physical chemical parameters

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Abstract

The study of the isotherms desorption of olive mill wastewater (OMW) was investigated to describe its water activity under different saturated environments. The microbial biodegradation of OMW during its storage in 5 evaporation ponds located in Agareb (Sfax-Tunisia) was carried out during the oil-harvesting year held 105 days in 2004. Gravimetric static method using saturated salt solutions was used and OMW as placed at 30°C and under different water activities ranging from 0.11 to 0.90. Eight models were taken from the literature to describe experimental desorption isotherms. During storage, the evolution of physico-chemical parameters including pH, temperature, evaporation, humidity, total phosphorus, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD) and phenols and three microbiological flora (aerobic mesophilic bacteria, yeasts and moulds) were considered. At 30°C, when relative humidity increased in the experimented ponds of 69, 84 and 90%, the evaporation speed decreased from 1.24 × 10−5 to 5 × 10−6 cm3 s−1, from 6 × 10−5 to 7 × 10−6 cm3 s−1 and from 5 × 10−6 to 1.1 × 10−7 cm3 s−1 respectively. The desorption isotherm exhibited a sigmoidal curve corresponding to type II, typical of many organic material. The GAB and Peleg models gave the best fit for describing the relationship between the equilibrium moisture content and water activity in OMW (R 2 = 0.998). During the storage period, the analysis showed an increase of all the physico-chemical parameters studied, except phenols and total phosphorus concentrations. The microbiological study showed the predominance of yeasts and moulds and the decrease of bacteria population after 75 days reflecting both effect of recalcitrant compounds and the water activity on microbial growth.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mr. Ahmed Ayadi the General Manager of the Tunisian Services Society, for providing the material and allowing exploration of the site. The authors are grateful to Mrs Mounira Ben Mrad from the National Engineering School in Sfax for her help with English.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UR Étude et Gestion des Environnements Urbains et Côtiers, École Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Sfax, B.P. 1173-3038, Sfax, Tunisia

    Raja Jarboui & Emna Ammar

  2. UR Mécanique des Fluides Appliquée et Modélisation, École Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Sfax, B.P. 1173-3038, Sfax, Tunisia

    Bilel Hadrich

  3. Faculté des Sciences de Sfax, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie Microbienne, B.P. 1171-3000, Sfax, Tunisia

    Néji Gharsallah

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  1. Raja Jarboui
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Correspondence to Emna Ammar.

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Jarboui, R., Hadrich, B., Gharsallah, N. et al. Olive mill wastewater disposal in evaporation ponds in Sfax (Tunisia): moisture content effect on microbiological and physical chemical parameters. Biodegradation 20, 845–858 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10532-009-9272-0

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