Published Paper Details:

Olive mill wastewater (OMWW) has constituted a major environmental problem to the olive oil producing countries. The cleanness of these discarded wastes requires several stages of identification of the various pollutants down to treatments. The aim of this work is to characterize and identify the olive mill wastewater content of the effluents of the units of olive trituration thrown into watercourse (Oued Oussefrou) without any preliminary treatment and to discuss the polluting load generated by this kind of industry. However, the interest lies in the fact that several Oil mills are located nearby, and also because it is considered as an effluent of the second river in India. Organic compounds extraction with ethyl acetate was efficient and the chemicals analysis methods, based on the application of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) of the extracts revealed the presence of the O�H hydroxyls groups (3700 cm-1 and 3100 cm-1), aromatic CHar (3100-3000 cm-1), aliphatic CH (2942 and 2887 cm-1), as well as C=O of the carboxylic acid at 1717 cm-1 associated by hydrogen bond and conjugate C=O of the flavonoids at 1650 cm-1� Additionally, GC-MS and 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy analyses showed the presence of phenolic compounds, alcohols and carboxylic acids groups (aromatic acid�), methyl and methylene of long chain, Olefins and substituted aromatic skeletons were also detected. Accordingly, the wastewater of the studied river is characterized by a slightly acid pH which varies between (6.21 and 6.95), an important mineralization expressed by a too high electrical conductivity, varies between (353 and 4260 �S/cm) and a strong organic matter load expressed by COD, which varies between (166 and 88 000 mg /l). The results also show that these rejections are charged with organic matters and confirmed the pollution generated by OMWW of this river.