Treatability of landfill leachate using three-stage hybrid system

Abstract

Leachate, which is one of the most important problem arising from sanitary solid waste landfills, reaches the bottom by leaking from solid waste and has high pollution. The leachate collected from the drainage system at the bottom of the landfill should be treated by undergoing appropriate physical, chemical, and biological treatments and by choosing the most appropriate treatment system, in order to meet the discharge standards given in the Water Pollution Control Regulation. Different treatment methods are used for the treatment of leachate. The objective of the study is treatment of leachate to access discharge criteria to the receiving environment. The treatability of leachate taken from the Denizli Metropolitan Municipality Solid Waste Landfill has been studied in a three-stage hybrid system. In this system, as a first step, a cylindrical upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor (UASB) made of stainless steel was used with a diameter of 15 cm and a length of 100 cm. A continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) made of stainless steel with a volume of 3 l is positioned at the exit of the UASB. Afterwards, treatment was carried out in a pilot scale constructed wetlands reactor. At the end of each stage, chemical oxygen demand (COD), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), pH, and temperature parameters were examined. The amount of gas formed in the UASB reactor and the percentage of methane were measured. Heavy metal analyzes were made in the final effluent.