Landfilling of municipal waste is a major issue of the waste management system in Europe. The generated leachate must be appropriately treated before being discharged into the environment. Technologies meant for leachate treatment can be classified as follows (i) biological methods, (ii) chemical and physical methods. Here we review briefly the main processes currently used for the landfill leachates treatments.

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Shorter nitrification is reached through Nitrobacter bacteria activity inhibition. Nitrobacter bacteria responsible for nitrite nitrogen oxidation are sensitive to free ammonium. The presence of free ammonium depended on a high ammonia nitrogen concentration in wastewater and its pH. It was the pH of the wastewater that was the decisive parameter in Nitrobacter bacteria activity inhibition in stable temperatures and at stable ammonia nitrogen concentrations. Reaction control in the aeration phase of the treatment process guaranteed the concentration of free ammonium within the 1 to 6 mg NH3/l range and at the same time concentration of free nitrous acid did not exceed 0.04 mg HNO2/l. It allowed nitrification to be significantly shortened and to receive build-up of nitrite nitrogen up to 300 mg NO2-N/l. Nitrification rate was about 0.06 g N/g MLSS·d. Measured oxidation rates of particular groups of nitrifying bacteria as oxygen uptake rates by Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria respectively made control of shorter nitrification easier and gave insight into the activity of both nitrifier groups.

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In this study, the susceptibility to erythromycin (E) and to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (SXT) among isolates of Enterococcus spp. and Escherichia coli was tested, respectively. Both fecal indicators were detected and isolated from raw (RW) and treated wastewater (TW) as well as from samples of activated sludge (AS) collected in a local wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Biodiversity of bacterial community in AS was also monitored using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE). Additionally, distribution of sul1-3 genes conferring sulfonamide resistance was tested among SXT-resistant E. coli. Simultaneously, basic physicochemical parameters and concentrations of eight antimicrobial compounds (belonging to folate pathway inhibitors and macrolides class) were analyzed in RW and TW samples. Six of the selected antimicrobial agents, namely: erythromycin, clarithromycin, trimethoprim, roxithromycin, sulfamethoxazole, and N-acetyl-sulfamethoxazole were detected in the wastewater samples. Bacterial biodiversity of AS samples were comparable with no relevant differences. Among tested Enterococcus spp., E-resistant isolates constituted 41%. SXT resistance was less prevalent in E. coli with 11% of isolates. The genes conferring resistance to sulfonamides (sul1-3) were detected in SXT-resistant E. coli of wastewater origin with similar frequencies as in other environmental compartments, including clinical ones.