Internal leachate quality in a municipal solid waste landfill: Vertical, horizontal and temporal variation and impacts of leachate recirculation

The aim of this study was to monitor and characterise internal leachate quality at a Finnish municipal solid waste landfill (Lahti, Kujala, in operation for approximately 50 years) to provide information about its horizontal and vertical variation as well as effects of leachate recirculation on leachate quality. The study area (approximately 4 h) of the landfill had 14 monitoring wells for leachate quality monitoring over a 2-year period. The leachate was monitored for COD, BOD, TKN, NH4-N, Cl, pH and electric conductivity. The results showed high horizontal and vertical variability in leachate quality between monitoring wells, indicating that age and properties of waste, local conditions (e.g., water table) and degradation and dilution processes have a marked effect on local leachate quality. The mean COD values (642-8037 mg/l) and mean BOD/COD ratios (0.08-0.17) from the different monitoring wells were typical of landfills in the methanogenic phase of degradation. The leachate in the monitoring wells was notably more concentrated than the leachate effluent used for leachate recirculation. In the landfill as a whole the effects of the leachate recirculation on leachate quality, although difficult to distinguish from those caused by other factors, appeared to be minor during the study period.