Removal of pollutants and reduction of bio-toxicity in a full scale chemical coagulation and reverse osmosis leachate treatment system

Removals of pollutants and toxic organic compounds and reduction in bio-toxicity of leachate along an operating full-scale leachate treatment system utilizing chemical coagulation, sand filtration, microfiltration (MF) and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane were evaluated. High pollutant removals were achieved mainly by coagulation and sand filtration. Major toxic organic pollutants, i.e. DEHP, DBP and bisphenol A were removed by 100%, 99.6% and 98.0%. Acute toxicity test using water flea, Nile Tilapia and common carp and genotoxicity (Comet assay) were conducted to determine toxicity reduction in leachate along the treatment. Ammonia was found to be the main acute toxic compounds in leachate as determined by LC50 but the effect of organic substances was also observed. DNA damage in fish exposed to diluted raw leachate (10% of LC50) was found to be 8.9–24.3% and it was subsequently decreased along the treatment. Correlation between pollutants and its bio-toxicity was established using multivariable analyses.