Treatment of leachate organic matter through sunlight driven processes.

Leachate organic matter (LOM) from mature, stabilized landfills is recalcitrant in nature resulting from high concentrations of humic substances, such as humic acids and other complex organic matter. This research focused on the behavior and fate of LOM in aquatic sun-lit systems to address the extent and mechanisms of LOM photodegradation by exposing leachate to natural sunlight in central Florida for a period of 90 days. Transformation processes were measured using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, fluorescence excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy, size-exclusion chromatography, and chemical oxygen demand over the test period. Results of the study suggest that photolytic, and in some cases biological, reactions were responsible for the reduction of LOM demonstrated by the transformation of high molecular weight recalcitrant material to lower molecular weight material, loss of fluorescence and color, and reduction of UV absorbance.