title: In situ microbial treatment of landfill leachate using aerated lagoons.
abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the efficiency of leachate treatment by microbial oxidation in four connected on-site aerated lagoons at a landfill site. The landfill site was found to be in an ageing methanogenic state, producing leachate with relatively low COD (mean value 1740 mg l(-1)) and relatively high ammonium concentrations (mean value 1241 mg l(-1)). Removal of COD averaged 75%, with retention times varying from 11 to 254 days. Overall 80% of the N load was removed within the plant, some by volatilisation of ammonium. Microbial community profiling of the water from each lagoon showed a divergent community profile, presumably a reflection of the nutrient status in each lagoon. In municipal solid waste landfills under similar conditions, leachate treatment through a facultative aerobic system in which sequential aerobic and anaerobic microbial oxidations occurred can readily be achieved using a simple two-lagoon system, suggesting this technology can be economic to install and simple to run.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex, England.
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Mehmood
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Adetutu
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Nedwell
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Ball
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D005735:Garbage; D017672:Nitrogen Compounds / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D014871:Water Microbiology; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D018508:Water Purification / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D017672:Nitrogen Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D010100:Oxygen