Olive mill wastewater (OMW) is characterized by its high organic content and refractory compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficiency of UV/O3 and UV/ acetylacetone (UV/AcAc) processes for treatment of pretreated OMW by coagulation/microfiltration (C&M) process.

In this study, a laboratory-scale UV plug flow reactor with ancillary equipment was fabricated. The experimental factors including initial pH (5-9), O3 dosages (1.5-4.5 g/h), and AcAc concentrations (0.01-0.03 M) were measured. For both processes, a reaction time of 120 min was considered. The effect of these variables on removal of wastewater contaminants including BOD, COD, TSS, turbidity, phenol, oil, and grease were investigated.

Results showed that raw OMW has a high load of pollutants and very low biodegradability (BOD5/COD = 0.12). In UV/O3 process, the optimal conditions were obtained at pH 8 and ozone injection at 4 g/h. The combined C&M-UV/O3 process removed 78.75% COD, 46.66% BOD5, 90.88% total phenol, 91.78% TSS, 99.14% oil and grease, and 98.38% turbidity, with promotion of BOD5/ COD from 0.12 to 0.33. In UV/AcAc process, the optimal conditions were achieved at pH 5 and AcAc concentration of 0.03 M. The combined C&M-UV/AcAc process removed 58.75% COD, 67.58% BOD5, 38.03% total phenol, 83.50% TSS, 93.65% oil and grease, and 95.00% turbidity, with promotion of BOD5/ COD from 0.12 to 0.22.

The results showed that the UV/O3 process is completely superior to the UV/AcAc process for removal of OMW contaminants, as well as promoting the biodegradability of OMW.