Olive mills wastewater treatment by combined membrane processes

The purpose of this work was to verify the combined application of membranes and adsorption processes to the treatment of vegetation waters coming from olive oil factories. The described pilot plant worked for about 6 months using polysulfone ultrafiltration membranes, absorbing polymers and polypiperazine amide reverse osmosis membranes. The process was optimized so that from wastewater entering with a COD content of about 90,000 ppm it was possible to obtain a COD reduction of about 99% with the recovery of polyphenols to use in alimentary industries and of a “concentrated paste” for oil extraction, phurphurale production or combustion. Also evaluated was the economical feasibility of industrial application calculating that the total cost of the treatment was close to 3 c per liter.