Improvement of the sustainable olive mill wastewater (OMWW) management in the region of Sousse (Tunisia) via ArcGIS Software

Abstract

In Tunisia, the evacuation of olive mill wastewater (OMWW) in storage tanks remains the most common way to manage this toxic effluent. Several environmental damages are registered due to the inappropriate locations of this OMWW tanks. Indeed, the storage tanks locations must be carefully selected where hydrogeological, environmental as well as socioeconomic criteria must be simultaneously considered. For this purpose, an integrated approach based on Geographic Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS) and multicriteria method (Analytic Hierarchy Process AHP) were developed to asses OMWW tanks sustainable management in Sousse region (Tunisia). The present paper consists to evaluate the current management of OMWW tanks in comparison with the existing standards. The results showed that most of the sites were not in the appropriate zone and did not meet the necessary standards and the minimum requirement to put in a storage tank, as expressed by the exclusion criteria. This strongly emphasizes the seriousness of the deteriorated environmental situation in the region. An awareness of these dangers that threaten public health and have some other associated risks is important. Hard work to resolve this situation is urgently required.