Uso del nocciolino di oliva come materiale di riempimento di biotrincee per la denitrificazione biologica in situ di acque di falda

In-situ treatment of nitrates contaminatedplumes by means of biotrench, filled with materials ableto promote the biological denitrification, is nowadaysconsidered as an affordable alternative among the possibleapplicable technologies. Previous studies highlightedthat olive nut, due to its high content of organiccarbon as well as of lignin, resulted capable to promotesignificant removal efficiency. The paper reports the resultsof an experimental lab scale study carried out witha column filled with a blend of olive nut, sand and soiland feed in continuous with water artificially spikedwith nitrates concentration up to 35 mgNO3-N L-1. Despitethe low hydraulic retention time the denitrificationefficiency resulted very high (up to 99%). Furthermore,the nitrous oxide production was investigated during theexperimentation in order to assess the contribution of asuch technology to the production of greenhouse gas.