Coagulation-flocculation in leachate treatment using modified micro sand

Abstract

Sanitary landfill leachate is considered as highly polluted wastewater, without any treatment, discharging into water system will cause underground water and surface water pollutions. This study was to investigate the treatability of the semi-aerobic landfill leachate via coagulation-flocculation using poly-aluminum chloride (PAC), cationic polymer, and modified micro sand. Leachate was collected from Pulau Burung Sanitary Landfill (PBSL) located in Penang, Malaysia. Coagulation-flocculation was performed by using jar test equipment and the effect of pH, dose of coagulant and dose of polymer toward removal of chemical oxygen demand (COD), color and suspended solid (SS) were examined. Micro sand was also used in this study to compare settling time of coagulation-flocculation process. The optimum pH, dose of coagulant (PAC) and dose of polymer (cationic) achieved were 7.0, 1000 mg/L and 8 mg/L, respectively. The dose of micro sand used for the settling time process was 300 mg/L. Results showed that 52.66% removal of COD, 97.16% removal of SS and 96.44% removal of color were achieved under optimum condition. The settling times for the settling down of the sludge or particles that formed during coagulation-flocculation process were 1 min with modified sand, 20 min with raw micro sand and 45 min without micro sand.