Nitrogen pollution of leachate at a sea-based solid waste disposal site and its nitrification treatment by immobilized acclimated nitrifying sludge

Nitrification Treatment of Swine Wastewater With Acclimated Nitrifying Sludge Immobilized in Polymer Pellets

“…Nitrification performance of pellets obtained with swine wastewater is comparable with performance in municipal wastewater applications. Furukawa et al (1994) reported > 80% nitrification efficiencies for treatment of NH 4 + polluted landfill leachate (containing 35 mg NH 4 + -N L -1 ) by using PVA immobilized nitrifiers with an NH 4 -N loading rate of 2.9 mg N g-pellet -1 d -1 . High nitrification performance (> 90% efficiency at NH 4 -N loading of 1.7 to 1.9 mg N g-pellet -1 d -1 ) has been also reported by Tanaka et al (1991) with PEG pellets applied to municipal wastewater containing 20 to 30 mg N L -1 d -1 .…”

“…Biological removal of N through the process of nitrification and denitrification is regarded as the most efficient and economically feasible method available for removal of N from wastewaters (Focht and Chang, 1975;Tchobanoglous and Burton, 1991;Furukawa et al, 1994). The effectiveness of the biological nitrogen removal process depends on the ability of nitrifying organisms to oxidize ammonium ions (NH 4 + ) to nitrite (NO 2 -) and nitrate (NO 3 -).…”

“…Advances in biotechnology using immobilization technology have shown that higher nitrification efficiencies are possible through the entrapment of cells in polymer gels, a common technique in drug manufacturing and food processing. The successful application for nitrification treatment of municipal wastewater has been demonstrated using both natural polymers such as calcium alginate (Lewandowski et al, 1987) and synthetic polymers such as polyethylene glycol, PEG (Tanaka et al, 1991), or polyvinyl alcohol, PVA (Furukawa et al, 1994). Pellets made of synthetic polymers are superior to natural polymers in terms of strength and durability; their estimated life span is about 10 years.…”

Impacts of anthropogenically influenced groundwater seepage on water chemistry and phytoplankton dynamics within a coastal marine system

“…Since the majority of these landfills were unlined and constructed on tidal wetlands with fine-grain deposits, lateral transport of leachate to the surrounding surface water is common (Walsh & LaFleur 1995). Finally, a series of recent reports documenting coastal landfills with leachate entering surface waters (Striebel et al 1991, Chu et al 1994, Furukawa et al 1994, Walsh & LaFleur 1995, Nobes et al 2000, Barlaz et al 2002 suggests that such plumes could be an important, but previously undocumented, source of eutrophication in aquatic systems around the world.…”

“…Moreover, the short distance between coastal landfills and nearshore discharge of groundwater may prevent substantial hydrodynamic dispersion, microbial degradation, and/or retention of such plumes (Fetter 1994, Christensen et al 2001). To date, there have been numerous reports of landfill leachate plumes discharging into coastal waters (Striebel et al 1991, Chu et al 1994, Furukawa et al 1994, Walsh & LaFleur 1995, Nobes et al 2000, Barlaz et al 2002. Although the impact of landfill leachate on groundwater composition has been well studied (see review by Christensen et al 2001), the potential effects of leachate plume discharge on coastal water quality and plankton communities are largely unknown.…”