Tertiary treatment of landfill leachates by adsorption.

The leachates produced at the municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill of Asturias (Spain) were submitted to a biological treatment consisting of a pressurized nitrification-denitrification process followed by ultrafiltration. The effluent from this treatment plant has a high chemical oxygen demand : biochemical oxygen demand (COD : BOD( 5)) ratio (about 25 : 1). The COD values of the effluent are above the discharge limits permitted by current legislation and therefore require a final treatment.