Landfill Water Quality Project Paul Brooks, Lea Bullard, Leslie Harper, Amanda Strickland, Sarah van Schagen April 30, 2004 University of North Carolina at Wilmington Department of Biological Sciences BIO 488-Forensic Environmental Science

Project Purpose Determine if wastewater discharge from New Hanover County Secure Landfill is within limits set in NPDES permit Step One: determine allowable levels Step Two: measure/test parameters in question Step Three: compare results with permit limits

Background Information Definitions, overview of location, description of instruments and tests

Definitions Leachate-liquids that have percolated through land- disposed wastes Wetland-land that is covered all or part of the time with salt- or fresh water, excluding streams, lakes, and open ocean

Definitions, continued Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)-amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic decomposers to break down the organic materials in a given volume of water at a certain temperature over a specified time period Measured in mg/L Dissolved Oxygen (DO)- amount of oxygen gas dissolved in a given volume of water at a particular temperature and pressure Measured in mg/L

Definitions, continued Turbidity-expression of the optical property that causes light to be scattered and absorbed rather than transmitted in straight lines through a sample Measured in nephelometric turbidity units Total Suspended Solids-measure of solids in the water column that are not in true solution and can be removed by filtration Measured in mg/L Turbidity to TSS conversion formula TSS (mg/l) = [1.075 (turbidity in NTUs)]

Location Overview New Hanover County Solid Waste Disposal Site, 5210 US Hwy 421 N, Wilmington, NC

Location, continued Two leachate treatment systems in use at the landfill: Constructed wetlands system Traditional water treatment plant

Location: Constructed Wetlands Artificial wetlands planted with vegetation Untreated leachate flows via gravity through the wetlands Natural physical and biological processes can remove pollutants like nitrogen, phosphorous, and metals

Location: Constructed Wetlands Untreated leachate enters the wetlands system here from six inlets

Location: Constructed Wetlands Leachate flows via gravity through this vegetative mass

Location: Constructed Wetlands Cleaned water is stored in a holding pond after flowing through wetlands

Location: Constructed Wetlands Leachate treated with the wetland system should be clean enough to use for irrigation of old landfill cells

Location: Water Treatment Plant Leachate piped into package plant Mechanical and biological processes used to remove pollutants

Location: Water Treatment Plant Leachate is treated in a more traditional package plant

Location: Water Treatment Plant Leachate is aerated to add oxygen, and microbes are added to decrease the nutrient load

Location: Water Treatment Plant Cleaned water leaving this system should meet standards for discharge into the Cape Fear River

Instrumentation and Tests Instruments used YSI 85 Instrument Measures DO, salinity, and temperature Manufacturer's spec sheet HF Scientific DRT-15CE Meter Measures turbidity Manufacturer's spec sheet Lab tests performed BOD test Method summary

Permits NPDES permits and allowable discharge levels

NPDES Permit Received from Sergei Chernikov, NC NPDES permitting office

NPDES permit: DO levels

Sampling and Testing Sampling process, documentation, and results

Constructed Wetlands and Treatment Plant Sampling Took measurements of both influent waters and effluent waters of the system Recorded results and photographed instruments during testing Created a chain-of-custody for all samples taken

Constructed Wetlands Sampling

Influent turbidity testing

Constructed Wetlands Sampling Influent turbidity testing, continued

Constructed Wetlands Sampling Influent DO testing

Constructed Wetlands Sampling Results from testing waters coming into wetlands system: Turbidity: 25 nephelometric turbidity units Equivalent to mg/L TSS DO: 7.63 mg/L

Constructed Wetlands Sampling Effluent turbidity testing

Constructed Wetlands Sampling Effluent turbidity testing, continued

Constructed Wetlands Sampling Effluent DO testing

Constructed Wetlands Sampling Effluent BOD sampling

Constructed Wetlands Sampling Results from testing waters leaving wetlands system: Turbidity: 2.31 nephelometric turbidity units Equivalent to mg/L TSS DO: 7.55 mg/L BOD5: 2.85 mg/L

Treatment Plant Sampling

Effluent turbidity testing

Treatment Plant Sampling Effluent turbidity testing, continued

Treatment Plant Sampling Effluent DO testing

Treatment Plant Sampling Effluent BOD sampling

Treatment Plant Sampling Effluent BOD sampling, continued

Treatment Plant Sampling Results from testing waters leaving treatment plant: Turbidity: nephelometric turbidity units (corrected by 1.42 NTU for calibration factor) Equivalent to mg/L TSS DO: 6.22 mg/L BOD5: 15.9 mg/L

Results vs. limits Comparison of sampling results with NPDES permit limits: constructed wetlands and treatment facility

Comparison of Discharge Levels with Permit Limits:Wetlands Permit LimitsOur Results Dissolved Oxygen N/A7.55 mg/L TSS45.0 mg/L max. daily mg/L BOD545.0 mg/L max. daily 2.85 mg/L

Comparison of Discharge Levels with Permit Limits:Treatment Plant Permit LimitsOur Results Dissolved Oxygen N/A6.22 mg/L TSS45.0 mg/L max. daily mg/L BOD545.0 mg/L max. daily 15.9 mg/L

Results Discharge from artificial wetlands was in compliance with landfill’s NPDES permit Discharge from treatment plant was in compliance with landfill’s NPDES permit Quality of effluent from constructed wetlands is higher than effluent from package plant

Sources Chernikov, Sergei. “Re: Requested Information.” to Lea Bullard. 24 April “Method Summary Information, BOD 5-Day Test”. National Environmental Methods Index. 24 April Miller, G. Tyler Jr. Living In the Environment. 12 th ed. Stamford: Brooks/Cole, “Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for Sediment and Turbidity in the Waters of Granite Creek in Sitka, Alaska.” Website of the Department of Environmental Conservation of the State of Alaska. 24 April