title: Wastewater disposal to landfill-sites: a synergistic solution for centralized management of olive mill wastewater and enhanced production of landfill gas.
abstract: The present paper focuses on a largely unexplored field of landfill-site valorization in combination with the construction and operation of a centralized olive mill wastewater (OMW) treatment facility. The latter consists of a wastewater storage lagoon, a compact anaerobic digester operated all year round and a landfill-based final disposal system. Key elements for process design, such as wastewater pre-treatment, application method and rate, and the potential effects on leachate quantity and quality, are discussed based on a comprehensive literature review. Furthermore, a case-study for eight (8) olive mill enterprises generating 8700 m(3) of wastewater per year, was conceptually designed in order to calculate the capital and operational costs of the facility (transportation, storage, treatment, final disposal). The proposed facility was found to be economically self-sufficient, as long as the transportation costs of the OMW were maintained at ≤4.0 €/m(3). Despite that EU Landfill Directive prohibits wastewater disposal to landfills, controlled application, based on appropriately designed pre-treatment system and specific loading rates, may provide improved landfill stabilization and a sustainable (environmentally and economically) solution for effluents generated by numerous small- and medium-size olive mill enterprises dispersed in the Mediterranean region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Vas. Sofias 12, 67100 Xanthi, Greece. bdiamant@env.duth.gr
authors.forename: Vasileios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Diamantis
authors.forename: Tuba H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Erguder
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aivasidis
authors.forename: Willy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Verstraete
authors.forename: Evangelos
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Voudrias
mesh_terms: D056804:Biofuels; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006115:Greece; D007220:Industrial Waste; D008697:Methane; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D062065:Wastewater
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D007220:Industrial Waste; D008697:Methane; D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Anaerobic digestion; Energy recovery; Landfill-site valorisation; Olive mill wastewater; Wastewater disposal