You are here:
LEACHATE RECIRCULATION, METHANOGENS AND METAL CONCENTRATIONS IN BIOREACTOR LANDFILLS
Citation:
Kavanaugh**, R. G., B. J. Morris, D A. Carson*, R. B. Green, G. R. Hater, J F. Martin*, AND W J. DavisHoover*. LEACHATE RECIRCULATION, METHANOGENS AND METAL CONCENTRATIONS IN BIOREACTOR LANDFILLS. Presented at Insitu and on-Situ Bioremediation, Seventh International Symposium, Orlando, FL, 06/2-5/2003.
Description:
The idea of operating landfills as bioreactors has received a lot of attention owing to many of the economic and waste treatment benefits. Portions of the Outer Loop landfill in Louisville, KY, owned and operated by WMI, Inc., are currently being used to test two different decomposition enhancement techniques. Collecting the leachate, treating the leachate to achieve nitrification followed by leachate recirculation, is a technique used to operate one retrofitted bioreactor. A second landfill bioreactor is operated by enhancing decomposition initially by aeration, followed by the creation of anaerobic conditions through liquid addition. Leachate samples were collected from cells operated using both techniques. The samples were analyzed for the concentrations of metals and bacterial counts including methane producing bacteria. A comparison of leachate from the leachate recirculated reactors before and after the initiation of recirculation, indicates an increase in the concentrations of certain metals. The research presentation will discuss the changes in metal concentrations in the leachate following leachate addition and correlation of increased metal concentrations to bacterial numbers.