Can we use constructed wetland for treating leachate of landfill?

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Hello everyone we are facing problem of Landfill leachates since rainy season. Ground water may get contaminated as a result of this. We need to fix the problem before the severity increases. What can be done to stop the problem? Can we use constructed wetland for treating leachate of landfill? what are design specifications and general consideration? Does any one has worked in this area? I have asked many doubts in one question but your inputs are really important to me. Cheers Jose.

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23 Answers

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  2. Dear all, thanks for putting so much effort in clearing my mind about the above query. I was not sure to get this much of replies but the development team kept me encouraging to raise my question here. Thanks once again for your inputs. Cheers:

  3. Yes off course Constructed wetlands being used globally for landfill leachate, for further information I want to refer some following research articles 1. Constructed wetlands for landfill leachate treatment, M. J. Barr, H. D. Robinson, Waste management and Research, volume 17, Issue 6, Pages 498-504, Dec.1999. 2. The use of constructed wetland for landfill leachate treatment, TjaÅ¡a Bulc, Danijel Vrhovsek, Vlasta Kukanja, Water Science and Technology,Volume 35, Issue 5, 1997, Pages 301–306 3. Long term performance of a constructed wetland for landfill leachate treatment, Tjasa G. Bulc, Ecological Engineering, Volume 26, Issue 4, 31 July 2006, Pages 365–374 4. Treatment of landfill leachate using an aerated, horizontal subsurface-flow constructed wetland, J. Nivalaa, , M.B. Hoosc, C. Crossa, S. Wallacea,nG. Parkin, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 380, Issues 1–3, 15 July 2007, Pages 19–27 Lt Col Islam-ul-Haque, TI(M) Retd

  4. Yes you can. However, you must consider the wetland vegetation, Volume of leachate generated, and also provided there is a possibility for bio-remediation practices, before the leachate reached the artificial or constructed wetland. Best regards Isaac Kifamulusi-Uganda

  5. Yes you can provided

    You need to characterize the landfill leachate, both volume and chemical composition of the leachate and you need to look at what are the resources that you have onsite to treat the wastewater (characteristics of site, slope, soil, do you have a liner planned for the CW?, etc.)

    Then you need to decide how to process that leachate given the resources that are available. So yes, you can do this and make it work. It might be neccessary to plant a few different types of wetlands to treat the various components found in the leachate. Phytoremediation with hyperaccumulators may be required, along with the the standard constructed wetlands that could be composed of reeds and other types of vegetation.

  7. Hi Jose: Informally, you take the chance of unregulated "water seepage," that could contaminate aquatic life, (fish kills), surrounding water supplies (rivers, lakes, water holding facilities, etc., even main water supplies. Therefore, environmental problems will not solve your problem; mainly because, wetlands are usually in low level areas, and closer to other water sources that can also be effected, and/or contaminated. You will be held responsible; and liable, for any damage you cause! This is why you use a licensed water professionals! Wetlands supply many homes for birds and other wildlife that is very important in natures' balancing. In other words, water from wetlands to treat leachate from land fills makes sense, but at what cost? Sometimes, we do not know; until, many years down the line, after major damage has been done. There is a much better way to clean up land fills completely, reclaim the land, and turn it all back into its original atoms with no pollution. Sometimes, we all look to deep to solve a very easy problem.....

  8. Francis McKeever EVP Asia Pacific APTWater

    Hello Jose, APTwater owns "Rochem" which has a 40 year track record of treating landfill leachate all over the world, with hundreds of references. I represent the Asia Pacific business but have expert colleagues in US and Europe who can assist you. The starting point is to get a water analysis, then we can give sensible guidelines. The Rochem technology is membrane based but we have worked in combination with other technologies when this is appropriate. Our website is www.aptwater.com. Please use the general inquiries feature on the site or email me at fmckeever@aptwater.com and I'll direct you to someone who can help. Good luck with your inquiry! Francis

  9. Landfill leachate is generated from liquids existing in the waste as it enters a landfill or from rainwater that passes through the waste within the facility. The leachate consists of different organic and inorganic compounds that may be either dissolved or suspended. An important part of maintaining a landfill is managing the leachate through proper treatment methods designed to prevent pollution into surrounding ground and surface waters. If leachates have a distinguishing characteristic, it is that they are variable. Flows change based on the weather - increasing during rainy periods, decreasing during dry and waste concentrations can change dramatically over the life of the landfill. As a result, no landfill leachate is constant over time, and no two leachates are the same. Leachate can consist of many different organic and inorganic compounds that are typically either dissolved or suspended in the wastewater. High concentrations of chemical oxygen demand (COD)associated, BOD, nitrogen, phenols, pesticides, solvents and heavy metals are common in these systems. Leachate treatment technologies fall into two basic types, biological and physical/chemical. In larger systems and depending on the treatment goals, integrated systems which combine the two are often used. The most common biological treatment is activated sludge, which is a suspended-growth process that uses aerobic microorganisms to biodegrade organic contaminants in leachate. With conventional activated sludge treatment, the leachate is aerated in an open tank with diffusers or mechanical aerators. Landfill leachate has also been effectively treated by the rotating biological contactor (RBC) process. The RBC is a biological process consisting of a large disc with radial and concentric passages slowly rotating in a concrete tank. During the rotation, about 40 percent of the media surface area is in the wastewater. The rotation and subsequent exposure to oxygen allows organisms to multiply and form a thin layer of biomass. This large, active population causes the biological degradation of organic pollutants. Excess biomass shears off at a steady rate and is then carried through the RBC system for removal in a clarifier. Activated carbon adsorption systems have also been used in the treatment of landfill leachates for removal of dissolved organics, however, they are generally considered one of the more expensive treatment options and often, must be combined with other treatment techologies to achieve desired results. Joel Samuel Feyisola Sunshine Progressive Youth Alliance

  10. hi...yes we can use constructed wetland for treating leachate of landfill, about the performance of constructed wetland in treating leachate from a landfill receiving industrial, commercial and institutional waste, you can check the paper of Sartaj et al. chapter 10. With regards, Mukta Singh Chandel Research Scholar MANIT,Bhopal(M.P.)

  11. of course that not why? marshes, whether it is artificial or natural a whole have problems: stagnant water. that Ci causes light putrefaction in the content. They are water charged in organic waste which often leaves in decomposition by the rot. they are natural biological dustbins. the lixivaits of discharge CAT of level 2 for example are rain water streamings more aprt of the time which on the way recovers all kinds of organic pollution chemical or simply chemical. the stagnant waters of the marshes will not have any action surn this kind of pollution. I am on a project in ivory dimension of a discharge of level 2 which rejects 500m3 surface water. one can do no biological job of treatment of purification on such water. it is necessary that they pass already by a physicochemical system of decontamination (exorbitant and not very effective cost). for any action of biological purification work must start at the origin of the effluent. to avoid any contamination of micro pollutant. After one can do everything for any result. it St besides what occurs nowadays

  12. I've another quite diverse suggestion to offer; assuming your wetlands are located in a "warm climate" zone of the world: There's a very, very unique floating plant, called the "Water Hyacinth" - that fishing cultures & hydro-electric back-bay people detest - but that possesses some very, very powerful positive attributes; especially applicable to your situation. This Amazon basin origins plant totally floats (i.e, does NOT attach itself to the bottom or anything else): But as it does so, its tendrils are absorbing/feeding off of any & all suspended effluvia in the water. It can thereby "clean up" even the most polluted water; and will absorb even dissolved "heavy metals". The dirtier/more polluted the water, the faster it grows; having the capacity to replicate its entire "floating mattress mass" every 3>5/days. But one of its most interesting - & positive - features, besides just being a "renewable resource" - is it's harvested use as a very effective composting/mulching source; particularly valuable to the restoration of semi-arid/sandy &/or otherwise "depleted" soils. It's so versatile, in fact, it can even be mixed with other fodder & used for livestock feed. Footnote: An entire new industry, involving the growth/harvesting/multiple uses of this once hated "Devil" plant, was generated on the shores of Lake Victoria; and the once desperate people of Malawi, living & depending on their splendorous Lake & Rivers system learned to harvest & use it to restore growing vitality to their Colonial-period abused lands. Bottom Line: "Mother Nature" is, in the final analysis, most often a far, far more valuable/reliable resource than anything our chem industry can offer!

  13. Yes, constructed wetlands are increasingly being used to treat landfill leachate on-site and passively. For persistent chemical contaminants that are not treated by this method, we are exploring the use of a sunlight activated nanotechnology coated mesh that floats in a retention area and passively creates advanced oxidation/reduction reactions that destroy these persistent contaminants.

  15. Maximum Concentration of Leachate for Safe Influent CW

    It depends on the concentration of the leachate. Therefore, first of all, you have to measure the maximum concentration of landfill leachate, which does not affect the existing plants (or to be held) on the CW. Assume 60% concentration is ok, it is necessary to preprocess (by means of physical or chemical treatment) to achieve a 60% concentrate effluent as the safe influent CW.

    Sarwoko Mangkoedihardjo
    Surabaya, Indonesia

  16. It depends on the concentration of the leachate. Therefore, first of all, you have to measure the maximum concentration of landfill leachate, which does not affect the existing plants (or to be held) on the CW. Assume 60% concentration is ok, it is necessary to preprocess (by means of physical or chemical treatment) to achieve a 60% concentrate effluent as the safe influent CW. Sarwoko Mangkoedihardjo Surabaya, Indonesia

  17. There seems to be two parts to this question. Most have answered the first.

    It is possible to design a treatment wetland to handle most effluent contaminants from a landfill given the proper design and enough landscape to accommodate the design. It will protect the surface waters, but may only be soaking up the contaminants where they will reside until some other type of disturbance to the treatment wetland. Some persistent chemicals (e.g. trace elements)  can never be treated, but merely accumulated either in the soils or biota of the wetland.

    But the original question asks another question most have disregarded in their answer.  Jose points out that “ we are facing problem of Landfill leachates since rainy season” That indicates a time frame for the use of wetlands.  Here is a real problem with any design.  The wetlands must be able to mature substantially prior to their ability to impact the chemical composition of any leachate in any substantive or significant way.

    So while wetlands can be designed to help purify landfill leachate, their utility really depends on their being part of the original design of the landfill, and their construction should have begun during the landfill construction, and certainly prior to the acceptance of the fill.

  18. Yes and NO

    It depends what's in the water . Using wetland ( reed) you have no barrier if it would be any organic toxins in the water.

    If it's "only" N in the water wetland is ok.

    Better is to use bio-filter etc. Willow or other non food crop to uptake of NPK and the soil absorbs heavy metals. Willow will later then uptake the metals in the stem witch in  combusting will be concentrated in the fly ash.

    In Sweden many of the landfills use bio filtration in willow.

    One other way is to put in a barrier etc  peat ash, or activated coal

    /dahn/

    laqua.se

     

  19. answer by Kees van Leeuwen about constructed wetland for treating leachate

    Dear Jose

    Yes probably you can.It will depend on the nature of the substances, e.g. water soluble persistent pesticides may not be degraded and reach the surface waters.  Other ionic compounds too.PBTs may be adsorbed onto solids or accumulate in the biomass, and will probably not make it into the surface waters directly

     

    So you need to do a quick scan of your contaminants (water quality criteria and exposure concentrations of the main contaminants). You may need to go into historic files on the nature of the soil pollution. Determine what the bad guys really are and then you will have an answer on your question.

     

    Best regards

    Kees van Leeuwen

    http://www.springer.com/environment/environmental+chemistry/book/978-1-4020-6101-1

     

     

  20. Yes, landfill leachate treatment with CWs is one the most desirable technologies providing on-site, passive treatment. As said by Dion, the major problem in this water is the extremely high concentrations of ammonia and organic nitrogen. A typical design includes a pre-treatment stage (sedimentation basin, aeration tanks, septic tanks, but in the past we also used a trickling filter). We have used Vertical flow CWs which are probably the most common type used for this treatment, while it can be combined with other CW types like HSF CW. Generally, an effective treatment of landfill leachate with CWs is quite feasible. Alexandros

  21. Indeed it is.

    The use of wetland/reedbeds to treat landfill leachate has been successfully carried out for over 20 years.

     

    As has been said by the previous correspondent the design needs to be suitable for purpose and can be land hungry if the liquid volumes are great. If I can assist please say.

     

    Harvey Wood

    Director

    Clean Rivers Trust.

  22. Indeed it is.

    The use of wetland/reedbeds to treat landfill leachate has been successfully carried out for over 20 years.

     

    As has been said by the previous correspondent the design needs to be suitable for purpose and can be land hungry if the liquid volumes are great. If I can assist please say.

     

    Harvey Wood

    Director

    Clean Rivers Trust.

  23. Sure it is!

    Treating landfill leachate certainly is not the easiest thing to do with a constructed wetland since the leachate often contains high nitrogen loads and difficult to degrade substances. But there have been a lot of successful implementations of constructed wetlands for this purpose. It is imperative however to have a very solid design to meet discharge requirements. If you're interested, you can turn to our company website: www.globalwettech.com and we can do the design and implementation.

    Thanks,

    Dion van Oirschot
    Rietland bvba
    Belgium