Get to know about some of the advantages and disadvantages of leachate treatment at landfills, when compared with off-site treatment (say at a WwTW – sewage works).
“For the landfill operator/owner it must be a huge benefit to have a reliable on-site leachate treatment plant”.
There are numerous aspects for and in opposition to leachate treatment at landfill as opposed to its treatment at a sewage works or industrial wastewater treatment works.
It's essential that you know about them before doing it.
This information is intended to let you know about some of the main benefits and drawbacks regarding leachate treatment at landfills.
It will be important to you to recognize these just to be capable of making the most beneficial final decision for yourself.
Pros: Factors In Favor Of leachate treatment at landfill
1. A dedicated leachate treatment plant at the landfill can be built to an optimized process design to very efficiently treat leachate which is normally very much stronger than sewage (that is 100 to 1,000 times stronger in some important contaminants.
In fact leachate which is sent to many sewage works may end up being more “treated” by dilution as it mixes with the weaker sewage, than real removal by the conversion of some of the important pollutants present by the process at the sewage works.
2. The landfill operator that has an on-site plant can also never become a hostage to fortune if the sewage works fails to operate correctly and blamed for the leachate discharged from the landfill having impaired the ability of the community sewage works to treat the effluent from the community.
One additional reason for leachate treatment at landfills is the landfill operator that has an on-site leachate treatment plant can also never find at short notice that the sewage works operator has decided for whatever reason to withdraw permission for the leachate to be discharged to the sewage works, leaving the landfill operator without a discharge route.. This delivers the further benefit of security of discharge to a much greater extent than relying on an external service, that is certain to protect against making the mistake of assuming the landfill site will always be able to discharge without interruption to a sewage treatment works via a sewer connection, or by tanker vehicle transport to an off-site leachate treatment facility.
The points above show the positive aspects of leachate treatment at landfill. There is also a negative side. Here's a discussion of some of the cons.
Cons: Reasons Against leachate treatment at landfill
1. The operator will need to employ knowledgeable staff to operate an on-site leachate treatment plant
When you carry out leachate treatment at landfill, it could actually have the impact of raising site staffing costs for on-site leachate treatment plant, unless a fully automatic plant is installed requiring the minimum of daily attention. There is no way that that could be a good thing. It could be enough reason for avoiding doing it at all.
2. The projections of future leachate strength and quality will need to be trustworthy and accurate, otherwise the on-site leachate treatment plant might be too large, or too small, for the leachate treatment requirements, after a few years.
3. An on-site plant may not get approval on planning grounds, and such matters need to be checked with the planning authority at an early stage.
One more cause in avoiding leachate treatment at landfill is an on-site plant may not get approval on planning grounds, and such matters need to be checked with the planning authority at an early stage.. I strongly urge anyone to contemplate this factor very seriously, seeing as it can contribute to delays in getting leachate disposal organized at a site if you opt to leachate treatment at landfills anyway.
Conclusion
So there you have it, the actual positives and negatives of leachate treatment at landfill. It will not be the right thing for all, but it is definitely beneficial to plenty of people. You need to take into account the info presented to make the appropriate decision, for or against. Hopefully your choice process will be aided greatly because of the pro and con info presented here.
