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| Titel |
Does wastewater from olive mills induce toxicity and water repellency in soil? |
| VerfasserIn |
B. Peikert, N. Bandow, G. E. Schaumann |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2012
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 14 (2012) |
| Datensatznummer |
250063276
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Olive oil mill wastewater is the effluent generated by the olive oil extraction process. It is the
main waste product of this industry mainly being produced in the Mediterranean Basin.
Because proper treatment options are rare it is often disposed into the environment, e.g. fields
or wadies. Due to its high concentration of fatty acids and phytotoxic phenolic
compounds and its high chemical and biological oxygen demand, olive oil mill
wastewater becomes a serious environmental problem. In this screening study we
investigated long-term effects of olive oil mill wastewater application on soil properties
in several locations in the West Bank and Israel. We determined wettability via
water drop penetration time and the contact angle as well as general soil properties
including pH, EC, carbon content, and we conducted thermogravimetrical analyses in
order to characterize the impact of the waste water on the quality of soil organic
matter.
Our results show that application of olive oil mill wastewater has various effects.
We determined contact angles between 110 and 120Ë and water drop penetration
times up to 1367Â s indicating significant reduction in wettability. Furthermore,
soil carbon and nitrogen content and water extractable organic matter increased as
well as electric conductivity, which could be pointed out as a fertilizing effect.
In contrast soil pH was significantly reduced. Conducting thermal analyses we
observed an increase in the labile and refractory carbon fraction. Probably first one is
responsible for induced water repellency. As a consequence the reduced wettability
negatively affects soil quality. It would therefore be promising to minimize the
hydrophobizing impacts without losing fertilizing effects of the olive oil mill wastewater. |
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