Opportunities for expanding the use of wastewaters for irrigation of olives

“…Globally, treated wastewater is used as an alternative water source for agricultural irrigation, with different regulations and limits in different countries [ 7 ]. Wastewater application can affect the complex water-soil-crop system, as nutrient availabilities and uptake [ 8 ] and fruit quality are affected by providing additional nutrients [ 9 ]. Advanced treatment is thus needed when producing reclaimed water (RW) to avoid a negative impact from salinity levels on both soil and crop and on public health from the presence of pathogenic infectious agents, which affect humans and/or animals [ 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[ 36 ], nectarines [ 37 , 38 ], almonds [ 39 , 40 ] and olive [ 41 , 42 ]. Olive trees provide the most representative fruit tree crop of the Mediterranean basin, can produce approximately 80% of the world’s olive oil and are appropriate candidates for the reuse of recycled water [ 8 ]. Water consumption for olive growing is strongly influenced by the cropping system, as well as by the irrigation strategy used [ 43 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Irrigation of Olives with Reclaimed Wastewaters and Deficit Strategies Affect Pathogenic Bacteria Contamination of Water and Soil

et al. 2022

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This study aimed to evaluate pathogenic bacterial contamination of the water-soil-plant system in potted olive trees irrigated with reclaimed wastewater. Desalinated water (DW) obtained by treating municipal wastewater (SW) and reclaimed water (RW) obtained by mixing SW with the brine (BR) produced by DESERT technology (tertiary treatment by ultrafiltration, active carbon and reverse osmosis) were used. Two different irrigation regimes were compared: full irrigation (FI) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI). During two irrigation seasons the concentrations of Escherichia coli, enterococci, spores of sulfite-reducing Clostridia (SRC) and Salmonella spp. were monitored in water, soil and fruit samples. Microbial concentrations in DW were always below the threshold for reuse in agriculture, while RW showed the highest level of contamination for all observed parameters. RDI management appeared to increase the soil content of SRC spores with respect to FI. Sporadically low SRC spore contamination was recorded in some fruits only in 2018, regardless of the irrigation source, probably because of accidental contamination during sampling or post-harvest handling. This study encourages the creation of a better regulatory framework reference, with specific guidelines for the use of RW as part of integrated environmental systems for the management of sustainable agriculture.

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“…Different outcomes are conceivably due to the intrinsically complex (i.e. multiphase) nature of both OMWs and soils, which in turn produces multifactorial physico-chemical interactions among all the distinct phases involved in the OMW soil domain (Saadi et al 2007;Lopez-Piniero et al 2008;Pedrero et al 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of olive mill wastewater (OMW) on the soil hydraulic and solute transport properties

Comegna

Dragonetti

Kodešová

et al. 2021

Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

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The Mediterranean area concentrates the world’s largest production area of olive oil. The olive oil industry represents, in this basin, one of the leading sectors of the agri-food economy. Olive mill water (OMW) is the principal waste effluent produced by the olive oil industry. Due to its high pollution load, this aqueous by-product cannot be directly disposed of in domestic wastewater treatment plants (especially those with a biological treatment unit). Untreated OMW is currently used for agronomic purposes in several countries, mainly because it is rich in valuable plant nutrients. However, OMW is characterized by toxic phenols, high organic matter, high salinity, suspended solids and several other components that may have possible negative effects on chemical and physical soil properties, as well as soil biological activities. In the present research, we focused on the effects of OMW application on transport and hydraulic soil properties. Three distinct soils from a pedological point of view were selected and a series of laboratory steady-state miscible flow tests were conducted under saturated conditions, on both OMW-treated and -untreated soil columns. Tests were conducted on disturbed and undisturbed soil columns. The approach proposed by Kachanoski, based on soil impedance (Z) measurements via the time domain reflectometry (TDR) technique, was used to monitor the leaching experiments. The breakthrough curves (BTCs) exhibited different shapes that allowed the repercussions of OMW applications on soil transport behaviour to be distinguished. Several additional tests conducted on OMW-treated and -untreated soil cores to determine water retention curves (SWRCs) and saturated hydraulic conductivity Ks allowed us to infer the probable mechanisms involved in soil hydrological behaviour changes under OMW treatments. The results show that when OMW leaches into the soil immediately after its disposal there is little effect on the evaluated hydraulic and hydrodispersive properties. By contrast, we demonstrated that a short incubation period (i.e. a short contact time between OMW and soil) of 10 days is enough to exert a great influence on all the values determined (e.g. soil pore velocity v and Ks reduced by up to one order of magnitude). These effects were especially evident in undisturbed soil samples. Graphic Abstract

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Opportunities for expanding the use of wastewaters for irrigation of olives

Cited by 52 publications

References 132 publications

Critical knowledge gaps and research priorities in global soil salinity

Critical knowledge gaps and research priorities in global soil salinity

Irrigation of Olives with Reclaimed Wastewaters and Deficit Strategies Affect Pathogenic Bacteria Contamination of Water and Soil

Impact of olive mill wastewater (OMW) on the soil hydraulic and solute transport properties

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