Degradation of olive mill wastewater by the combination of Fenton's reagent and ozonation processes with an aerobic biological treatment.

Degradation of olive mill wastewater (OMW) by means of two chemical oxidation processes (Fenton's reagent and ozonation) and their consecutive treatments with aerobic microorganisms have been studied. Fenton's reagent treatment moderately reduces COD and to a greater extent the polyphenolic compounds. Ozonation contributed to low conversion of COD and moderate reduction of polyphenols. The aerobic biological treatments degrade to values higher than 70% and 90% for COD and polyphenolic compounds, respectively. A kinetic study has been carried out in each process, determining the representative kinetic parameters of each model.