Treatment of Municipal Landfill Leachate by Oxidants

Landfilling is the one of the least expensive method for disposal of municipal solid waste. Hence, about 90% of MSW is disposed in open dumps and landfills unscientifically, creating problems to public health and the environment. The leachate generated from the municipal landfill contains organic and inorganic pollutants and several heavy metals, which makes it unsuitable for discharge in natural bodies without any prior treatment. In this study, matured landfill leachate was treated by various oxidation and combination of advanced oxidation process using hydrogen peroxide, sodium persulfate, Fenton’s oxidation and ultrasonication-hydrogen peroxide. Fenton’s process exhibited the best COD, TOC and color removals(74% COD, 76% TOC and 80% color respectively) while hydrogen peroxide and sodium persulfate alone showed much lesser TOC reduction(35% and 39% respectively).