Full-scale blending treatment of fresh MSWI leachate with municipal wastewater in a wastewater treatment plant

Fresh leachate, generated in municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) plants, contains various pollutants with extremely high strength organics, which usually requires expensive and complex treatment processes. This study investigated the feasibility of blending treatment of MSWI leachate with municipal wastewater. Fresh MSWI leachate was pretreated by coagulation-flocculation with FeCl3 2 g/L and CaO 25 g/L, plate-and-frame filter press, followed by ammonia stripping at pH above 12. After that, blending treatment was carried out in a full-scale municipal wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) for approximately 3 months. Different operational modes consisting of different pretreated leachate and methanol addition levels were tested, and their performances were evaluated. Results showed that throughout the experimental period, monitored parameters in the WWTP effluent, including COD (<60 mg/L), BOD5 (<20 mg/L), ammonium (<8 mg/L), phosphorus (<1.5 mg/L) and heavy metals, generally complied with the Chinese sewage discharged standard. Under the experimental conditions, a certain amount of methanol was needed to fulfill TN removal. An estimation of the operation cost revealed that the expenditure of blending treatment was much lower than the total costs of respective treatment of MSWI leachate and municipal wastewater. The outcomes indicated that blending treatment could not only improve the treatability of the MSWI leachate, but also reduce the treatment cost of the two different wastewaters.