Abstract
Olive mills wastewater (OMW) is a critical environmental problem in the Mediterranean area due to its extremely high levels of COD and phenols. In this study, a group of adsorption experiments were conducted to investigate the dynamic response of the pH. COD, phenols, TSS, TDS, and TS concentrations of pretreated OMW, using different concentrations of activated carbon as adsorbent. The pretreatment included sedimentation and filtration of OMW. The pretreated OMW was then subjected to adsorption. A series of adsorption steps in stirred batch vessels were studied, namely, one stage, two-stage countercurrent, and three-stage countercurrent adsorption systems. A combined two- two-stage countercurrent adsorption steps were also studied. Experimental results showed that such treatment protocols were promising. For example, a treatment protocol composed of a three-stage countercurrent adsorption process using activated carbon of concentration of 24 g/L of OMW was able to reduce the COD from 60 000 mg/L down to 22 300 mg/L, while phenols were reduced from 450 to 15 mg/L.