Geoelectrical characterization of an olive oil mill waste (OOMW) site

The production of olive oil in the Mediterranean region is of major economic importance. It is one of the leading industries in Greece, with large impact in local and national economy. Olive oil production activities are not regulated, resulting in the production of large waste volume with virtually uncontrolled disposal. The most common disposal practice involves damping of the waste in open evaporation ponds, leading to significant degradation of the environment. In addition to regulation and adoption of proper waste management processes, there is an urgent need for the development of methods that will allow efficient monitoring of waste management processes, and enable rapid recognition of environmental degradation incidents. Geophysical methods could be used to monitor and characterize olive oil waste management processes. We applied a series of electrical geophysical measurements at an olive oil mill waste (OOMW) site in western Crete. Our results suggest that electrical methods are very efficient in accurately delineating young OOMW plumes due to their conductive signature.