1. Advances in Leachate Management Research to Address Emerging Concerns
UV Interference
Stephanie C. Bolyard, PhD
Research and Scholarship Program Manager
April 5, 2017
NC SWANA 2017 Spring Conference 

2. Emerging Concerns Near Term Longer Term Color Emerging contaminants
UV transmittance (POTW)
Nutrients
Refractory Dissolved Organic Nitrogen (rDON)
Total Dissolved Solids/ Chlorides
Refractory COD
Arsenic
Emerging contaminants
Boron, PFCs, future unknowns
Pharmaceutical and Personal Care Products (PPCPs)
Nano-particles
Tritium
Omparison to1 min
Source: EREF Summit on Leachate Management

3. Inhibition of UV Transmittance In 2010 there was an estimated
7.1 billion gallons of leachate generated
Leachate disposal to POTWs can be a cost effective disposal option
But organics in leachate can interfere with downstream UV disinfection
Omparison to1 min

4. MSW Landfill discharged 5 tons of nitrogen in one month
Nutrient Management
Leachate has a high concentration of nitrogen requiring treatment.
Existing technologies utilize biological treatment to oxidize ammonia-N to N2.
Numeric Nutrient Criteria may lower the total nitrogen and phosphorus limits.
Omparison to1 min
MSW Landfill discharged 5 tons of nitrogen in one month

5. Leachate Management Research
Development of a Strategy for the Treatment of Landfill Leachates (Virginia Tech)
Approaches to Mitigation of Landfill Leachate‐Induced UV Transmittance Impacts (Montclair State)
Developing Strategies to Recover and Treat Nutrients in the Landfill Leachate (University of Utah and University of Central Florida)
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6. Minimizing Inhibition via Pre-Treatment
Knowledge Gaps
What leachate characteristics cause UV interference?
Suspect small size organics (e.g. humics) may be the culprit
How does variation in leachate characteristics affect UV interference?
Leachate from different landfills will vary and influence the extent of interference
How can leachate be treated to remove constituents causing UV interference?
Develop a recommended pre-treatment strategy
Omparison to1 min

7. UV absorbance is not the same as color!
Initial Leachate Characterization
Characterized particulate size
fractionation and compared against:
Micro-filtration (0.1 µm – 1 µm)
Ultra-filtration (1 kDa-100 kDa)
Nanofiltration (200 Da-1 kDa)
Reverse Osmosis (< 200 Da)
UV absorbance is not the same as color!
Salts and Metal Ions
Virus
Bacteria
Omparison to1 min
500Da 1kDa 3kDa 5kDa 1kDa 30kDa 100kDa .22um .45um 1.5um Raw

8. Size Fractionation Observations
Organic carbon particulates in leachate are very small
Less than 3,000 kDa (bacteria)
Most less than 100 kDa (viruses)
Suggests physical/chemical methods of treatment (e.g. filtration, coagulation) will NOT work well
Some success potentially with nanofiltration
More success with reverse osmosis
Omparison to1 min

9. UV Transmittance for Different Leachates
Leachate volumes as low as 1 – 4% of total volume treated by a POTW can significantly hinder UV disinfection (Zhao)
Field studies by Bolyard and Reinhart, (2015) found that a leachate contribution of % can interfere with UV disinfection.
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10. Oxidation (Fenton’s Reagent)
Treatment
Methods Evaluated
Treatment Process
Effective?
Coagulation NO
Adsorption (PAC)
Moderately
Ion Exchange
Ultrafiltration
For Humics
Reverse Osmosis
YES
Oxidation (Fenton’s Reagent)
Anaerobic MBR & SBR
Omparison to1 min

11. Leachates Sampled
The leachate samples were collected from on-site municipal solid waste landfill leachate treatment facilities from
PA-1: (Active & Inactive)
PA-2: (closed in 2011)
PA-3: (closed in 2003)
NH: (Active)
"Treated leachates" were the samples collected from sequencing batch reactor (SBR)
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12. SBR Treatment Effect
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SBR treatment was successfully at removing DOC but UV absorbance still a challenge.

13. Pretreatment and Co-Treatment
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SBR Only

14. Combined Treatment
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15. Reducing UV-quenching substances in landfill leachate.
Submerged Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor (AnMBR) with sequential thermophilic (55°C) and mesophilic digestion (37°C) (~7 months of treatment).
Both digestion processes work together to degrade different aromatic compounds responsible for UV interference
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16. The absorbance decreased considerably following the AnMBR stage
Results
Young Leachate
Mature Leachate
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The absorbance decreased considerably following the AnMBR stage
Long-term removal of over 60% of the total organic carbon from raw landfill leachates was observed using this two stage strategy, resulting in a reduction in UV absorbance by over 40%.

17. Integrated “Recovery and Removal”
Current paradigm
Anaerobic digester reject water and landfill leachate are two concentrated waste streams rich in N, P and C, and handled separately.
The current management schemes entirely focus on removal which can be limited by the presence of recalcitrant compounds and inhibitory concentrations.
Proposed paradigm
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18. Step 1: Nutrient recovery at different pHs
Experimental Approach
Digester Reject Water
Step 1: Nutrient recovery at different pHs +
Leachate
Step 2: Granular activated sludge process to remove carbon. Unlike in flocculated activated sludge processes, dense granules will be able to tackle toxics: Alternative: Use anaerobic process to recover carbon
Omparison to1 min
Step 3: Partial nitrification coupled with anaerobic ammonia oxidation to remove remaining nitrogen

19. Struvite Precipitation
Preliminary
Results
Initial Concentration (mg/L)
Struvite Precipitation
Phosphorus removal 75% mg/L
Ammonia removal 16% mg/L
Biological treatment
Granular reactor
COD removal 42% mg/L
Ammonia removal 15% mg/L
Phosphorus removal 50% mg/L
Single-stage partial nitrification/Anammox reactor
Ammonia removal 25% mg/L
Omparison to1 min

20. Conclusions
On‐site leachate treatment combined with co‐treatment of sewage at POTWs is still necessary to address the UV transmittance challenges at POTWs.
Three on‐site treatment trains achieved an effluent UVT ≥ 65% when coupled with treatment at a POTW
SBR  coagulation  PAC adsorption
SBR  coagulation  Fenton
SBR  Fenton treatment
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21. Conclusions
Nutrient Recovery has the potential to be a revenue source and a means to improve the effectiveness of subsequent biological treatment.

22. Acknowledgements Yang Deng - Montclair State
Ramesh Goel - University of Utah
John Novak - Virginia Tech
Amy Pruden - Virginia Tech
Debra Reinhart - University of Central Florida
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23. Questions Stephanie C. Bolyard, PhD sbolyard@erefdn.org www.erefdn.org
2017 EREF Leachate Summit at WasteExpo
May 8, 2017
New Orleans, LA
The EREF Summit will bring together practicing engineers, academics, industry professionals, government personnel, and policy makers for in-depth discussions on topics related to landfill leachate treatment and management.

24. Nutrient Recovery Potential
Landfill
Solid waste
Complex blend of contaminants
Current approaches rely on “removal”
Omparison to1 min
Leachate
Significant concentration of nitrogen and carbon
How can we recover and treat using innovative approaches?