TRILAT-OLIVEOIL

TRILAT-OLIVEOIL: Wastewater from Olive Oil Mills in Israel and Palestine: Interactions with Soil, Organic Contaminants and Mechanisms of Incorporation into Soil. DFG: SCHA 849/13 Trilateral cooperation project between Germany, Israele and Palestinian Authority

Zusammenfassung / Summary

Phase I. Due to the often practised uncontrolled disposal into the environment, olive oil production waste-water (OPWW) is presently a serious environmental problem in Palestine and Israel. The objectives of this interdisciplinary trilateral research project are (i) to understand the mechanisms of influence of the olive oil production wastewater on soil wettability, water storage, interaction with organic agrochemicals and pollutants; (ii) monitor short-term and long-term effects of OPWW land application in model laboratory and field experiments; (iii) identify the components responsible for unwanted changes in soil properties and (iv) analyse the mechanisms of association of OPWW OM with soil, the interplay between climatic conditions, pH, presence of multivalent cations and the resulting effects of land application.

Laboratory incubation experiments, field experiments and new experiments to study heat-induced water repellency will be conducted to identify responsible OPWW compounds and mechanisms of interaction. Samples from field experiments and laboratory experiments are investigated using 3D excitation-emission fluorescence spectroscopy, thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis-mass spectrometry (TGA-DSC-MS), LC-MS and GC-MS analyses. We will combine thermal decomposition profiles from OPWW and OPWW-treated soils in dependence of the incubation status using TGA-DSC-MS, contact angle measurements, sorption isotherms and the newly developed time dependent sessile drop method (TISED). The resulting process understanding will open a perspective for OPWW wastewater reuse in small-scale and family-scale olive oil produc-tion businesses in the Mediterranean area and will further help to comprehend the until now not fully unravelled effects of wastewater irrigation on soil water repellency.

Phase II. Due to the often practised disposal into the environment, olive mill wastewater (OMW) is a serious environmental problem in Palestine and Israel. It could act as fertilizer for soil if soil hydrophobization and phytotoxicity can be overcome by suitable application strategies. Our objectives are (i) to understand OMW-soil interaction processes and their effects on soil wettability, phytotoxicity and interaction with agrochemicals; (ii) to monitor short-term and long-term effects of OMW application in lab and field studies; (iii) to identify components responsible for changes in soil properties and (iv) to analyse interaction mechanisms of OMW OM with soil in interplay with climatic conditions. In the first two years, we completed the screening study.

In field (Gilat and Bait Reema) and lab studies, we have investigated the influence of seasonal conditions of OMW application on soil quality. The field sites are typically representative for modern olive cultivation in South Israel and for traditional Palestinian olive agriculture in the West Bank, respectively. They strongly differ from each other with respect to soil type and texture, cultivation intensity, climate and irrigation. In this proposal, we ask for extension by a third year, in order to be able to finish the field experiments and the lab studies as planned. This will complete the datasets of field and lab experiments in order to draw final conclusions on the processes and mechanisms and to become publishable. The interesting relations between climatic conditions, processes and OMW effects foreshadow the intensive interplay between deversible egradation, reversible sorption and physical immobilization of OMW compounds, and they show how locational differences are reflected in the degree and persistence of the OMW effects.

Verification of the findings will be possible with the data from the finalizing sampling events and the completion of lab incubation studies. This requires a final sampling in late summer 2014 and completion of soil analyses of the samples taken in late 2013. Lab experiments require final data and phytotoxicity analysis and, for Gilat, finalization of the set of conditions. Samples from field experiments and laboratory experiments will be investigated for their water repellency (contact angle, water drop penetration time), their phytotoxicity (cress germination tests), their carbon isotopic ratio (delta13C), their linear sorption coefficient towards simazine and diuron and their thermal characteristics including amount of thermolabile and thermostable OM and their calorific value. The resulting process understanding will open a perspective for OMW wastewater reuse in small-scale and family-scale olive oil production businesses in the Mediterranean area and will further help to comprehend the until now not fully unravelled effects of wastewater irrigation on soil water repellency.

Pictures

Group picture TRILAT in Biankini, Dead Sea, October 2012

Field experiment in Beit Rima, Palestine Authority, October 2012

Water repellent soil, Gilat, Israel, October 2012

Selected conference contributions

Oral presentations

G. E. Schaumann, B. Peikert, J. Hasan, M. Borisover, A. Nasser, A. Marei Sawalha, A. Dag, Y. Keren, M. Abu Garfha, N. Tamimi, M. Kurtz, M. Njoum, N. Bukhanovsky (2013): Wastewater from Olive Oil Mills in Israel and Palestine: Interactions with Soil, Organic Contaminants and Soil Organic Matter- a Trilateral Project. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany.

N. Tamimi, G. E. Schaumann, A. Marei (2013): Effect of Olive mill wastewater spreading on soil under different climatic condition in a semi humid area: A field study in Bait Reema – West Bank – Palestine. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany.

M. P. Kurtz, B. Peikert, C. Bruehl, A. Dag, J. Hassan, G.E. Schaumann (2013): Effects of Olive Mill Wastewater on Soil Arthropods in Two Different Cultivation Scenarios in Israel and Palestine. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany

M. P. Kurtz, B. Peikert, C. Bruehl, A. Dag, J. Hassan, G.E. Schaumann (2013): Effects of Olive Mill Wastewater on Soil Arthropods in Two Different Cultivation Scenarios in Israel and Palestine. 3rd Young Environmental Scientists Meeting Kraków, Poland 11-13 February 2013, http://www.sac-online.eu/yes2013/images/abstractbook.pdf.

C. Buchmann, A. Felten, B. Peikert, N. Bandow, A. Dag, G. E. Schaumann (2013): Short-term effects of Olive mill wastewater application on degradation of polyphenols, ecotoxicology and carbon isotope ratio of a Mediterranean soil. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany

B. Peikert, J. Fischer, G. E. Schaumann (2013): Application of olive oil mill wastewater in summer? A laboratory incubation study. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany

A. Nasser, M. Samara, U. Mingelgrin, M. Borisover (2013): Physico-Chemical Characterization of Olive Oil Mill Effluents. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany

Y. Keren, N. Bukhanovsky, I. Zipori, A. Dag, B. Peikert, M. Abo Garfha, J. Hasan and M. Borisover (2013): The impact of olive oil mill wastewater on organic compound – soil interactions: the survey. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany

Y. Keren, N. Bukhanovsky, M. Borisover (2013): Herbicide interactions with soils affected by olive oil mill wastewater: sorption isotherms, possible change of the mechanism and irreversibility. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany

Poster presentations

Keren, Y., Bukhanovsky, N, Boriwover, M (2013): Pesticide interactions with soils affected by olive oil mill wastewater. Geophysical Research Abstracts. Vol. 15, EGU2013-6977-1, 2013. EGU General Assembly 2013, April, 7-12

M. Njoum and Amer Marei (2013): Removal of phenolic compounds from olive mill wastewater (OMW) using natural Zeolite. Olive mill wastes and low quality water in agriculture: Effects and interactions in soil. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany.

Mazen Salman and A. Marei (2013): Use of white fungus phanerochaete chysosporium in dephenolization of Olive Mill Wastewater. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany.

M. Abo Garfha and J. Hasan (2013): The effect of olive mill wastewater on soil pollution build up: Screening Studyـ South West Bank. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany.

A. Felten, C. Buchmann, B. Peikert, A. Dag, G. E. Schaumann (2013): Short-term effects of olive mill wastewater application on phytotoxicity towards Lepidium sativum, microbial soil respiration and extractable total phenolic content. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany.

M. Samara, A. Nasser, U. Mingelgrin, M. Borisover (2013): Validity of the Lowry assay and Folin–Ciocalteu method in mixed polyphenol-protein systems. Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany.

D. Bibus, B. Peikert, G. E. Schaumann (2013): Phytotoxicity of olive mill waste water: germination tests with Lepidium sativum (garden cress). Soil-Waste-Water 2013 conference 3^rd - 5^th April, 2013 - Landau/Pfalz, Germany.

Y. Keren, N. Bukhanovsky, A. Nasser, M. Borisover (2012): Olive oil production wastewater (OMW) disposal: the effect on soil sorptive ability towards organic compounds. Eurosoil - Soil Science for the Benefit of Mankind and Environment, Fiera del Levante, Bari, Italy, July, 2-6, p. 2385.

B. Peikert, J. Hasan, A. Marei, M. Borisover, A. Nasser, G. E. Schaumann (2012): Wastewater from olive oil mills in Israel and Palestine: short and long-term effects on soil properties. Eurosoil - Soil Science for the Benefit of Mankind and Environment, Fiera del Levante, Bari, Italy, July, 2-6, p. 2389.

B. Peikert, G. E. Schauman, A. M. Sawalha, J. Hasan, M. Borisover, A. Nasser (2011): Wastewater from Olive Oil Mills in Israel and Palestine: Interactions with Soil, Organic Contaminants and Mechanisms of Incorporation into soil. Co-Evolution workshop, Landau, Germany, March, 2-4, p. 77

B. Peikert, G. E. Schauman, A. M. Sawalha, J. Hasan (2012): Ausbringung von Abwasser aus der Olivenölproduktion auf Böden - Eine Screening Studie. Jahrestagung der deutschen Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft, September, 3-9

B. Peikert, N. Bandow, G. E. Schaumann (2012): Does wastewater from olive mills induce toxicity and water repellency in soil? – Geophysical Research Abstracts, Vol. 14, EGU2012-5371,

Y. Keren, N. Bukhanovsky, M. Borisover (2012): The effect of olive oil mill wastewater field application on organic compound-soil interactions: the possible change of sorption mechanisms. Binational Student Conference: Soil, Water and the Environment (Volcani Center- Israel/ The Evenari-Forum for German-Jewish Studies at Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany), Bet Dagan, Israel, September, 10-11, p. 16.

Y. Keren, N. Bukhanovsky, M. Borisover (2012): The influence of the OMW on interactions of organic compounds with soils. The Annual Meeting of Israeli Society of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, October,16-18, Tel Aviv (in Hebrew).

Y. Keren, N. Bukhanovsky, M. Borisover (2012): Interactions of organic compounds with soils affected by olive mill wastewater. Annual Conference of Israeli Society of Soil Sciences, December, 9, Rehovot, p. 29 (in Hebrew; the best poster award).

Y. Keren, N. Bukhanovsky, M. Borisover (2013):: Olive oil production wastewater (OMW) disposed in the field: the effect on soil-organic chemical interactions. Dahlia Greidinger International Symposium – Advanced methods for investigating nutrient dynamics, Haifa, Technion, March, 4-7, p. 99. http://dgsymp13.technion.ac.il/

M. Samara, M. Borisover, A. Nasser (2013). Physico-chemical characterization of olive oil mill effluents. Dahlia Greidinger International Symposium – Advanced methods for investigating nutrient dynamics, Haifa, Technion, March, 4-7, pp. 114-115. http://dgsymp13.technion.ac.il/