Partial nitritation (PN) is a novel treatment for nitrogen removal using aerobic ammonium oxidation with reduced oxygen requirements compared to conventional nitrification. This study evaluated the performance of the PN process and the factors influencing nitrogen removal from landfill leachate. During the reactivation of biomass, the results showed 70% ammonium removal, but only 20% total nitrogen removal.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLandfill leachate properties contain important information and can be a unique indicator for the chemical and biochemical activities in landfills. In the recent decade, more landfills are experiencing elevated temperature, causing an imbalance in the decomposition of solid waste and affecting the properties of the landfill leachate. This study analyzes the properties of leachate from two landfills that were experiencing elevated temperature (ETLFs), samples were collected from both elevated temperature impacted and non-impacted areas in each landfill.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnviron Sci Ecotechnol
October 2023
Due to the accumulation of an enormous amount of plastic waste from municipal and industrial sources in landfills, landfill leachate is becoming a significant reservoir of microplastics. The release of microplastics from landfill leachate into the environment can have undesirable effects on humans and biota. This study provides the state of the science regarding the source, detection, occurrence, and remediation of microplastics in landfill leachate based on a comprehensive review of the scientific literature, mostly in the recent decade.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHurricane Harvey caused unprecedented floods across large regions of Southeast Texas resulting in several infrastructural issues. One of the notable failures was of a drinking water source pump in Beaumont, Texas, that necessitated the emergency use of a temporary pump intake station in the Neches River system. This study examines the environmental consequences of Harvey-induced flooding in the Neches River system by focusing on sensitive locations, including a Superfund site (International Creosoting, IC) and adjacent to the temporary pump intake.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRoof-harvested rainwater (RHRW) has received increasing attention in recent years as an alternative water source for domestic use, yet its biological stability during storage is not fully understood. This study investigated the effects of temperature (4 °C, 20 °C and 30 °C) on the microbiological characteristics of RHRW over a storage period of 60 days by targeting different microbial groups including total bacteria and fecal indictor Escherichia coli, bacterial opportunistic pathogen genera and species (Legionella spp, Legionella pneumophila, Mycobacterium spp, Mycobacterium avium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa), and two amoebas (Acanthamoeba and Vermamoeba vermiformis). The rainwater chemistry demonstrated no obvious change during storage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLandfill leachate contains extremely diverse mixtures of pollutants and thus requires appropriate treatment before discharge. Co-treatment of landfill leachate with sewage in wastewater treatment plants is a common approach because of low cost and convenience. However, some recalcitrant organic compounds in leachate can escape biological treatment processes, lower the UV transmittance of waste streams due to their UV-quenching properties, and interfere with the associated disinfection efficacy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, nitrogen species in landfill leachates under various stabilization states were investigated with emphasis on organic nitrogen. Ammonium nitrogen was found to be approximately 1300mg/L in leachates from younger landfill units (less than 10years old), and approximately 500mg/L in leachates from older landfill units (up to 30years old). The concentration and aerobic biodegradability of organic nitrogen decreased with landfill age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUV-quenching substance (UVQS), as an emerging municipal solid waste (MSW)-derived leachate contaminant, has a potential to interfere with UV disinfection when leachate is disposed of at publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare two chemical oxidation processes under different operational conditions, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigates the effect of landfill age on landfill leachate characteristics; two aspects are focused here. One is ultraviolet absorbance at 254 nm (UV(254)) property, as the discharge of landfill leachates to publically owned treatment works can cause interference with UV(254) disinfection. The other is biorefractory organic nitrogen in leachates, as it can contribute to effluent nitrogen making it difficult to meet stringent effluent nitrogen regulations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhen landfill leachate, with or without biological pretreatment, is discharged to publically owned treatment works (POTWs), it can interfere with the installed treatment facilities. Biological treatment is ineffective for the removal of some of the bio-refractory organic matter, including UV₂₅₄ quenching substances. Fenton's reagent treatment for biologically treated landfill leachates is examined in this study as a polishing step to make landfill leachates acceptable to POTWs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLandfill leachates strongly quench UV light. When discharged to POTWs, leachates can interfere with UV disinfection. To investigate the UV quenching problem of landfill leachates, a variety of landfill leachates with a range of conditions were collected and characterized.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo explore the feasible treatment alternatives for organic contaminant, especially organic arsenic species in the landfill gas (LFG) condensate, a variety of treatment approaches were examined and evaluated in this study. Biological degradation, conventional and advanced oxidation, and physical absorption showed limited effectiveness to convert the methylated arsenic to inorganic arsenic. Reverse osmosis (RO) was found to be able to remove the organic arsenic and meet the discharge limits.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA cost effective and widely applied approach for landfill leachate disposal is to discharge it to a municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). The recalcitrant nature of leachate organics and the impact on the downstream WWTPs were comprehensively investigated in this study. Size fractionation by ultrafiltration (UF) and microfiltration (MF) was employed in conjunction with various analyses (TOC, COD, nitrogen species and UV(254) absorbance) on raw and biologically treated landfill leachates to provide insight into biological treatability.
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