BIOREMEDIATION OF OLIVE MILL WASTEWATER FOR USING IN BIOFERTILIZATION

Abstract

Olive oil industry produced of huge amounts of wastewater which contain large amount of organic matter and phenolic compounds. Olive mill wastewater (OMWW), when discharged into surface water which used for irrigating soils, affects physical and chemical properties of soils and plants due to formations of crust layer on the surface, preventing oxygen to pass the soil. This led to inhibition of microbial activity due to low dissolving oxygen concentrations in the soil, in addition to toxic effect on plants, polluted surface and underground water causes eutrophication process. Chemical oxygen demand (COD) of OMWW can be higher than sewage. On the other hand, OMWW contains high amount of potassium, calcium, phosphorus and some plant hormones that can be used in agriculture application. The study was therefore aimed to treat OMWW by degrading the phenolic compounds and reducing COD values using microorganisms and finally evaluate the use of treated OMWW in irrigating pea plant (