Concentration Organic Wastewater Research Articles

Modulation of morphology and phase of magnetically separable 1T-WS2/CuFe2O4 heterojunctions for acceleration of peroxymonosulfate decomposition for rapid degradation of phenol

Transition metal sulfides are often used as cocatalysts to activate Peroxymonosulfate (PMS) in Fenton-like systems, but the problems include difficulties in recycling and the need to inject iron ions. In this paper, a self-synthesized magnetically recoverable heterogeneous 1 T-WS2/CuFe2O4 composites was prepared for the first time via a two-step hydrothermal method, and the content of the 1 T phase in WS2 was adjusted by controlling the hydrothermal temperature. Analytical techniques, such as XRD, Raman, SEM, TEM, BET, XPS, and VSM, showed that the composite catalyst was prepared with good particle shapes and high content of the 1 T phase. At the optimal dosage, this material activated PMS degraded to 93.6 % of 20 mg/L phenol in 50 min. The system exhibited high degradation efficiency, excellent interference resistance and good cycling stability under different conditions, and sulfur vacancies were generated during the process. ESR, quenching experiments, and other analyses confirm that SO4−, OH and 1O2 are the main active species in the system, with 1O2 making the greatest contribution. The degradation pathway of phenol was analyzed, and the formation of 12 intermediate products was qualitatively identified. Additionally, a simulation analysis of the toxicity of intermediate products was conducted. The degradation mechanism indicated that the three redox couples, Cu+/Cu2+, Fe2+/Fe3+ and W4+/W6+, provided synergistic activation of PMS. The self-synthesized 1 T-WS2/CuFe2O4 composite showed high catalytic performance, good stability, a high magnetic recovery rate and a low ion leaching rate and shows promise for treating concentrated organic wastewater.

Persulfate activated by Cu46Zr44.5Al7.5Y2 metallic glasses for efficient treatment of high concentration organic wastewater

Metallic glasses (MGs) with unique structures and properties have attracted much attention in a variety of chemical reactions. However, the industrial treatment of dye wastewater with ultrahigh concentration still remains a daunting challenge. Herein, it has been reported that Cu46Zr44.5Al7.5Y2 MGs are designed and applied to enhance heterogeneous persulfate (PS) activation for acid orange II (AO II) degradation. The Cu-based MGs exhibit the excellent catalytic behavior and reusability, and the high degradation efficiency (98 %) for 400 mg L−1 AO II dye aqueous solution is achieved within 70 min under PS activation overcoming the ultrahigh concentration limitation. Additionally, the degradation efficiency can still maintain more than 98.4 % within 23 min after reused 10 times. The probable degradation pathway may be proposed based on the intermediate identifications during the whole reaction. The highly reactive species for sulfate radicals, hydroxyl radicals and superoxide radicals (·SO4−, ·OH and ·O2−) generated from the reaction between Cu-based nanocomposites and PS molecules can contribute to improving the catalytic performance. These findings will provide a reasonable and potential strategy to design a catalytic degradation system for ultrahigh concentration dye wastewater treatment.

Roles of entrapped bubbles in methanogenic granules under oscillating pressure: Respiration and embolization for intra-granular transport

Anaerobic granular sludge plays a pivotal role in the treatment of concentrated organic wastewater. However, previous studies on intra- granular transport have generally overlooked lung-like respiration that expedites transport in response to fluctuating pressure. This study explored the activities of calcified and normal granules under simulated hydrostatic pressure oscillations. The results revealed a significant enhancement in the bioactivity of calcified granules under oscillating pressure, contrasting with the comparatively lower bioactivity observed in normal granules. The hypothesis posited that the gas pockets in calcified granules facilitated respiration as the functional structure. The presence of tiny bubbles exhibited a propensity for inducing clogging, thereby diminishing the capillary connectivity essential for substrate diffusion. The proposed respiration and embolization concepts decipher the distinct roles of entrapped bubbles in the granular bioactivity across diverse fluid states. This study offers valuable insights into the impact of fluidization on microscopic transport within granule-based bed reactors.

Wastewater Characterization: Chemical Oxygen Demand or Total Organic Carbon Content Measurement?

The long time (2 h) required for measurement, expensive chemicals (Ag2SO4), and toxic reagents (K2Cr2O7, HgSO4) limit the application of the standard method for measuring the oxygen equivalent of organic content in wastewater (chemical oxygen demand, COD). In recent years, the COD has increasingly been replaced by the total organic carbon (TOC) parameter. Since the limit values of the pollution levels are usually given in terms of the COD, efforts are being made to find the correlation between these parameters. Several papers have published correlation analyses of COD and TOC for industrial and municipal wastewater, but the relationship has not been discussed for individual chemicals. Here, this relationship was investigated using 70 contaminants (laboratory chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides). The calculated COD values, in most cases, agreed, within ~10%, with the experimental ones; for tetracyclines and some chloroaromatic molecules, the measured values were 20-50% lower than the calculated values. The COD/TOC ratios were between 2 and 3: for macrolides, they were ~3; for fluoroquinolones and tetracyclines, they were ~2. The molecular structure dependence of the ratio necessitates the establishing of the correlation on an individual basis. In advanced oxidation processes (AOPs), the ratio changes during degradation, limiting the application of TOC instead of COD.

Supercritical hydrothermal combustion: Basic principles, characteristics and applications and development in energy and environment

Supercritical hydrothermal combustion technology is a new homogeneous combustion technology with high potential in the fields of efficient removal of organic waste, clean utilization of conventional fossil energy, and efficient recovery of heavy oil. This manuscript reviews the literature related to supercritical hydrothermal combustion in recent years, and focuses on evaluating the current status of experimental and numerical simulation studies on the characteristics of supercritical hydrothermal combustion, as well as the latest progress in engineering. It is pointed out that the reduction of ignition temperature and extinction temperature is the key to promoting the application of supercritical hydrothermal combustion technology, and the consideration of the real-fluid effects and turbulence-reaction interactions can correctly reflect the combustion process. In addition, supercritical hydrothermal combustion technology, as a source of heat and reaction medium supply, can realize the efficient removal of highly concentrated organic wastewater, the clean combustion of coal and in-situ hydrogen production, as well as the thermal recovery of heavy oil by multi-thermal fluids. At present, supercritical hydrothermal combustion forced ignition technology, reactor design guidelines, and corrosion prevention of key equipment are still the focus of future research, which is of great significance to promote the application.

Energy yield from wastewater by supercritical water oxidation process: Experimental validation and simulation from the viewpoint of energy system

The degradation of high concentration organic wastewater and the recovery of energy using supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) technology have the potential to become viable in the future. High concentration organic wastewater contains a significant amount of energy. This paper focuses on utilizing high concentrated wastewater as a renewable energy source, from an energy system perspective, an experimental rig was designed to determine the optimal working conditions. The experiments were conducted with an oxidation coefficient of 1.1, a flow rate of high concentration organic wastewater of 9 ml/min, a heating temperature of 400 °C, and a reaction pressure of 25 MPa. Under these conditions, the COD and TOC removal rates of the high concentration organic wastewater were found to be 99.383 % and 99.876 % respectively. Additionally, the phenomenon of “Abnormalities in pressure sensitivity” observed during high concentration organic wastewater the experiment was further explained through additional experiments. Finally, by comparing the experimental energy recovery with the simulation results, an energy recovery efficiency of 78.95 % was achieved. The feasibility of the simulated energy recovery in practice was verified, confirming the potential to convert the previous energy-consuming wastewater treatment process into a productive one. This study provides a theoretical and experimental foundation for further related research.

Biofilm-developed biomass residues as novel bulking agents and microbial carriers for synergistically enhanced bioevaporation: Degradation potential and contribution to metabolic heat

Economical and easily prepared bulking agents and microbial carriers are essential in the practical application of bioevaporation process. Biofilm-developed biomass residues not only provide structural support and microbial sources but also may contribute metabolic heat to the bioevaporation process, achieving the enhanced water evaporation and synergistic treatment of biomass residues. In this study, biofilm was cultivated on the rice straw, wheat straw, sawdust, corncob, luffa cylindrica and palm first, then those biofilm-developed biomass residues were successfully used as the bulking agents and microbial carriers in food waste bioevaporation. The degradation potential (volatile solid degradation ratio) of those biomass residues was in the order of corncob (23.96%), wheat straw (21.12%), rice straw (14.57%), luffa cylindrica (11.02%), sawdust (−2.87%) and palm (−9.24%). It's primarily the degradation of the major components, cellulose and hemicellulose, in corncob and wheat straw governed the metabolic heat contribution (91.73 and 79.61%) to the bioevaporation process. While the high lignin content in sawdust (14.57%) and palm (28.62%) caused negligible degradation of cellulose and hemicellulose, hence made them only function as structural supporter and did not contribute any metabolic heat. Moreover, though the metabolic heat contribution of rice straw and luffa cylindrica reached 58.19 and 37.84%, their lowest lignocellulose content (62.99 and 65.95%) and their lower density, as well as the dominated Xanthomonas (bacteria) and Mycothermus (fungi) led to their rapid collapse during the repeated cycles of bioevaporation. The greatest abundance of thermophilic bacteria (22.3–88.0%) and thermophilic fungi (82.0–99.3%) was observed in the corncob pile. Furthermore, considering the Staphylococcus (pathogenic bacteria) and Candida (animal pathogen) was effectively inhibited, the biofilm-developed corncob was the most favorable bulking agents and microbial carrier for the synergistic bioevaporation of highly concentrated organic wastewater and biomass residues.

Fe-Co/Fe3C dual active sites catalysts supported on nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon for ultrafast degradation of high concentration Rhodamine B

Iron-based catalysts have garnered great attention as alternatives for Fenton-like catalysts in the degradation of organic compounds. However, there is a demand for the synthesis of highly efficient iron-based catalysts that can solve the problems of iron dissolution and poor stability. Herein, nitrogen-doped graphitic carbon-supported Fe-Co/Fe3C dual active sites catalyst (Fe-Co/Fe3C-NC) is successfully prepared by ball milling method combined with subsequent high-temperature self-reduction. 0.5 wt%-Fe-Co/Fe3C-NC shows high efficiency in the activation of peroxymonosulfate (PMS) for the ultrafast degradation of high concentration Rhodamine B (200 mg/L of RhB is completely degraded within 8 min and the degradation rate constant is as high as 0.5066 min−1), as well as high stability and good reproducibility, attributing to the synergistic mechanism between the dual active sites (Fe-Co and Fe3C) and the adsorption sites (Fe3C and pyrrolic-N). Chemical quenching experiments and electron paramagnetic resonance indicate that the prepared 0.5 wt%-Fe-Co/Fe3C-NC exhibits outstanding activation for PMS by generating reactive oxygen species (SO4•−, •OH, 1O2) and high-valent FeCo=O species. This work shows useful insights into the synthesis of iron-based dual active sites catalysts, providing exciting chances for the highly efficient degradation of high concentration organic wastewater.

A Review on the Interspecies Electron Transfer of Methane Production in Anaerobic Digestion System

Anaerobic methanogenesis plays an important role in the sustainable management of high concentration organic wastewater and bioenergy recovery. Interspecies electron transfer (IET) is a new type of mutualistic symbiosis that can accelerate microbial metabolism and overcome thermodynamic barriers in the metabolic process, thus facilitating anaerobic methanogenesis. IET is classified into Direct Interspecies Electron Transfer (DIET) and Mediated Interspecies Electron Transfer (MIET) according to the different electron transfer methods. This paper summarizes the recent research progress related to interspecies microbial electron transfer in anaerobic methanogenic system, describes the possible specific mechanisms of DIET and MIET, and analyzes the differences between DIET and MIET methods in terms of methanogenic performance, thermodynamics, kinetics, and the microbial communities involved in them. Finally, it was found that, through DIET, microorganisms in the process of anaerobic methanogenesis could not only strengthen the extracellular electron transfer of microorganisms and alleviate the inhibition of high organic loading rate, organic acids, and toxic substances, they could also help ferment bacteria and allow methanogenesis to break through the thermodynamic barriers and efficiently degrade complex organic matter. This can overcome several problems, such as low efficiency of electron transfer and acidification of traditional anaerobic digestion.

Life cycle assessment of high concentration organic wastewater treatment by catalytic wet air oxidation

There have been many studies on life cycle assessment in sewage treatment, but there are scarce few studies on the treatment of industrial wastewater in combination with advanced oxidation technology, especially in catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO). There are no cases of using actual industrialized data onto life cycle assessment. This paper uses Simapro 9.0 software to establish a life cycle assessment model for the treatment of high-concentration organic wastewater by CWAO, and comprehensively explains the impact on the environment from three aspects: the construction phase, the operation phase and the demolition phase. In addition, sensitivity analysis and uncertainty analysis were performed. The results showed that the key factors affecting the environment were marine ecotoxicity, mineral resource consumption and global warming, the operation stage had the greatest impact on the environment, which was related to high power consumption during operation and emissions from the treatment process. Sensitivity analysis showed that electricity consumption has the greatest impact on abiotic depletion and freshwater aquatic ecotoxicity, and it also proved that global warming is mainly caused by pollutant emissions during operation phase. Monte Carlo simulations found slightly higher uncertainty for abiotic depletion and toxicity-related impact categories.

Treatment of wastewater using Black Soldier Fly larvae: Effect of organic concentration and load

Recent studies have investigated the use of Black Soldier Fly (BSF) larvae as a promising biological treatment process for high organic content wastewater (i.a. Leachate from municipal solid waste landfill, food processing effluents), achieving both high treatment efficiency and production of secondary resources from larval biomass (i.a. Proteins and lipids). The present study was aimed at achieving a better understanding of how organic concentration and load might influence treatment performance. Larvae were fed with three artificial wastewaters characterised by same organic substances quality (degree of biodegradability and oxidation of the organic content measured respectively as BOD/COD and TOC/COD ratios) but different organic concentrations. Each type of wastewater was tested at four different loads. Treatment performance was assessed by monitoring both larval growth (in terms of weight variation, mortality and prepupation), and variation of wastewater quality and quantity to determine organic substrate consumption (measured in terms of Total Organic Carbon, TOC). Larval starvation was observed in all tests when TOC concentrations dropped below approx. 1000 mg C/L, which, for the tested wastewater, could be assumed as the limit value for adopting BSF larvae process. Substrate concentration in the feed (mgC/L) influenced larval growth (in terms of maximum wet weight, prepupation and mortality) only when organic load was above 10 mgC/larva: the higher the load, the higher the positive impact of the substrate concentration. On the contrary, the specific substrate consumption rate (vS, mgC/larva/day) appeared not to be influenced by substrate concentration but only by the organic load, with a Michaelis Menten like relationship. Accordingly, substrate load can be assumed as a design parameter for BSF treatment process, while substrate concentration might only influence potential resource recovery from larval biomass.

Chitosan-Fe3O4 composites enhance anaerobic digestion of liquor wastewater under acidic stress

Acid stress in the anaerobic digestion process of liquor wastewater leads to low anaerobic treatment efficiency. Herein, chitosan-Fe3O4 was prepared, and its effects on anaerobic digestion processes under acid stress were studied. Results showed that chitosan-Fe3O4 increased the methanogenesis rate of anaerobic digestion of acidic liquor wastewater by 1.5–2.3 times and accelerated the restoration of acidified anaerobic systems. The analysis of sludge characteristics showed that chitosan-Fe3O4 promoted the secretion of proteins and humic substances in extracellular polymeric substances and increased the electron transfer activity of the system by 71.4%. Microbial community analysis indicated that chitosan-Fe3O4 enriched the abundance of Peptoclostridium, and Methanosaeta participated in direct interspecies electron transfer. Chitosan-Fe3O4 could promote the direct interspecies electron transfer pathway to maintain stable methanogenesis. These methods and results regarding the use of chitosan-Fe3O4 could be referred to for improving the efficiency of anaerobic digestion of high concentration organic wastewater under acid inhibition.

Enhanced treatment of landfill leachate by biochar-based aerobic denitrifying bacteria functional microbial materials: Preparation and performance.

In this work, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium alginate (SA) were used as entrapped carriers and Artemisia argyi stem biochar (ABC) was used as an absorption carrier to immobilize aerobic denitrifying bacteria screened from landfill leachate, thus a new carbon-based functional microbial material (PVA/SA/ABC@BS) was successfully prepared. The structure and characteristics of the new material were revealed by using a scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and the performance of the material for treating landfill leachate under different working conditions was studied. ABC had abundant pore structures and that the surface contained many oxygen-containing functional groups, carboxyl groups, and amide groups, etc. and it had good absorbing performance and strong acid and alkali buffering capacity, which was beneficial to the adhesion and proliferation of microorganisms. After adding ABC as a composite carrier, the damage rate of immobilized particles was decreased by 1.2%, and the acid stability, alkaline stability, and mass transfer performance were increased by 9.00, 7.00, and 56%, respectively. When the dosage of PVA/SA/ABC@BS was 0.017g/ml, the removal rates of nitrate nitrogen (NO3 --N) and ammonia nitrogen (NH4 +-N) were the highest, which were 98.7 and 59.4%, respectively. When the pH values were 11, 7, 1, and 9, the removal rates of chemical oxygen demand (COD), NO3 --N, nitrite nitrogen (NO2 --N) and NH4 +-N reached the maximum values, which were 14.39, 98.38, 75.87, and 79.31%, respectively. After PVA/SA/ABC@BS was reused in 5 batches, the removal rates of NO3 --N all reached 95.50%. PVA, SA and ABC have excellent reusability for immobilization of microorganisms and degradation of nitrate nitrogen. This study can provide some guidance for the great application potential of immobilized gel spheres in the treatment of high concentration organic wastewater.

A Comparison Of Single And Multiple Jets In Terms Of Aeration Efficiency

Water treatment is required to meet the needs of an ever-increasing population. A variety of aeration strategies can be used to aerobically maintain liquid waste by supplying an adequate supply of oxygen to microorganisms present in the organic content of wastewater. In this investigation, seven different screens with single and multiple holes totaling 30.75 cm2 were used. The screens were designed to accommodate a variety of jet counts. The influence of variables such as the number of jets, discharge, and froude no on aeration efficiency was studied. The discharge rates of 4.750 l/s, 3.84 l/s, and 3.41 l/s were tested on each screen. The results suggest that the variables studied had a significant impact on aeration efficiency.

Advanced Treatment of Digested Restaurant Wastewater Using a Combination of Anaerobic/OxicUnit, Fenton, and a Biological Aerated Filter in Pilot-Scale Treatment

Biological treatment is the most economical and practical wastewater treatment method; however, for highly concentrated organic wastewater, such as digested restaurant wastewater, a single biological treatment method does not meet the discharge requirements. Herein, an anaerobic/oxic-Fenton-biological aerated filter (A/O-Fenton-BAF) system was employed to treat digested restaurant wastewater with a high concentration of organic compounds in a pilot-scale experiment. The degradation process and mechanism of chemical oxygen demand (COD), total nitrogen (TN), NH4+-N, NO3−-N, and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in each stage of the process were analyzed. Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and fluorescence spectrum characteristics were also studied. The average removal rate of both COD and NH4+-N in the entire process was 98%. The removal rates of COD, TN, NH4+-N, and DON reached 78.5%, 66.0%, 95.3%, and 51%, respectively, using the A/O unit. Although Fenton was ineffective in the removal of nitrogenous organic and inorganic substances, the fluorescence spectra and GC–MS showed that the nitrogen-containing organic compounds of macromolecules were transformed into small molecules after the Fenton reaction and could be removed by the BAF unit. The removal rate of DON was up to 24.3% in the Fenton + BAF process, which reduced the TN concentration in the effluent. The dominant species in all biological processes were nitrifying and organic matter-decomposing bacteria. This study provides key data for the design of a full-scale system for treating digested restaurant wastewater.

Study on Degradation of High Concentration Organic Wastewater by Ozone-Iron-Carbon Catalytic Oxidation

Study on Degradation of High Concentration Organic Wastewater by Ozone-Iron-Carbon Catalytic Oxidation

Application of O3/PMS Advanced Oxidation Technology in the Treatment of Organic Pollutants in Highly Concentrated Organic Wastewater: A Review

The ozone/peroxymonosulfate (O3/PMS) system has attracted widespread attention from researchers owing to its ability to produce hydroxyl radicals (•OH) and sulfate radicals (SO4•−) simultaneously. The existing research has shown that the O3/PMS system significantly degrades refinery trace organic compounds (TrOCs) in highly concentrated organic wastewater. However, there is still a lack of systematic understanding of the O3/PMS system, which has created a significant loophole in its application in the treatment of highly concentrated organic wastewater. Hence, this paper reviewed the specific degradation effect, toxicity change, reaction mechanism, various influencing factors and the cause of oxidation byproducts (OBPs) of various TrOCs when the O3/PMS system is applied to the degradation of highly concentrated organic wastewater. In addition, the effects of different reaction conditions on the O3/PMS system were comprehensively evaluated. Furthermore, given the limited understanding of the O3/PMS system in the degradation of TrOCs and the formation of OBPs, an outlook on potential future research was presented. Finally, this paper comprehensively evaluated the degradation of TrOCs in highly concentrated organic wastewater by the O3/PMS system, filling the gaps in scale research, operation cost, sustainability and overall feasibility.

The key regulative parameters in pilot-scale IC reactor for effective incineration landfill leachate treatment: Focus on the process performance and microbial community

Anaerobic digestion is a promising sustainable method for treating highly concentrated organic wastewater from the point of energy recovery. In this study, a pilot-scale internal circulation (IC) reactor was constructed to investigate the key regulative parameters that guaranteed the stable and efficient treatment of incineration leachate. The IC reactor was operated for 77 d by feeding real incineration leachate. With an organic load rate (OLR) of 30 kg/ (m3·d) and an influent pH value of 7.5, the reactor achieved its highest organic removal loading rate (ORLR) and biogas yield of 21 kg/ (m3·d) and 6.3 m3/d, respectively. The kinetic analysis confirmed that the two key parameters that significantly correlated (P < 0.05) with the methane yield and Rmax of sludge were OLR and influent pH value. Key enzyme activity of F420 increased 33.2 % when OLR was raised, but decreased by 5.6 % when influent pH was lowered to 6.8, further demonstrating the need for control over these two operational parameters of IC reactor. High-throughput sequencing results indicated that acetotrophic methanogen Methanosaeta had an overwhelming relative abundance of over 47.2 % in the entire community of all sludge samples. Nevertheless, the enrichment of unclassified_Bacteroidales and Methanobacterium strengthened hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis (HM) with step raise of OLR to 30 kg/ (m3·d), then increased the methane production potential and F420 activity of sludge. This study proposed a referable regulation method for the treatment of the actual landfill leachate via IC reactor.

A newly-designed free-standing NiCo2O4 nanosheet array as effective mediator to activate peroxymonosulfate for rapid degradation of emerging organic pollutant with high concentration

Nowadays effective treatment of high concentration organic wastewater is still a formidable task facing human beings. Herein, for the first time, a well-defined ZIF-67-derived NiCo2O4 nanosheet array was successfully prepared by a feasible method. In comparison with ordinary NiCo2O4 nanosphere, the formation of nanosheet structure could offer more opportunities to exposure internal active sites of NiCo2O4, thereby resulting in smaller interface resistance and higher charge transfer efficiency. As expected, ZIF-67-derived NiCo2O4 nanosheet array displayed great performance in peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. More importantly, recyclable redox couples of Co3+/Co2+ and Ni3+/Ni2+ endowed the stable catalytic activity of NiCo2O4 nanosheet. Interestingly, developed NiCo2O4-1/PMS oxidation system could achieve the effective degradation of antibiotics with high concentration in a short time. Both radical and nonradical pathways were involved into PMS activation, wherein SO4−, OH, O2− and 1O2 were major reactive oxygen species. The formation paths of reactive oxygen species and effects of inorganic anions were also investigated. Electrochemical analyses revealed that NiCo2O4-1 with nanosheet structure mediated the electron transfer between PMS and tetracycline (TC), which played a vital role in TC degradation. Furthermore, developed NiCo2O4-1/PMS oxidation system displayed great removal ability towards TC in actual water samples, and degradation products were low toxicity or no toxicity. In short, current work not only developed an effective oxidation system for completing the rapid degradation of antibiotic with high concentration, but also shared some novel insights into the activation mechanism of SR-AOPs.

Dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes from landfill leachate to groundwater

Landfill leachate, a highly concentrated organic wastewater containing diverse microorganisms and various heavy metals, has become an important reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs). In this study, a total of 203 unique ARGs and 10 mobile genetic elements (MGEs) were identified from collected landfill leachate and groundwater. The number and abundance (normalized and absolute) of antibiotic resistome in effluent of leachate treatment plants decreased significantly compared to influent. The abundance of ARGs in groundwater increased as the distance from the leachate basin decreased. Fast expectation-maximization microbial source tracking (FEAST) showed that up to 96 % of ARGs in groundwater (GW3) may originate from nearby leachate, suggesting that ARGs in leachate can penetrate and spread into the groundwater environment. A significant correlation between ARGs and bacterial communities was identified. Together with network analysis showing the 12 bacterial taxa co-occurring with seven classes of antibiotic-associated ARGs, our results revealed the diverse potential microbial hosts of ARGs in water samples around the landfill sites. Heavy metals, bacterial community and MGEs were the driving factors shaping the ARGs patterns in the water samples, with their interactions explaining 57 % of ARGs variations. Our results provide an understanding of the distribution and dissemination of ARGs from landfill leachate to the nearby groundwater and suggest a comprehensive impact assessment of ARGs in aquatic environments of landfills.