Metal removal from landfill leachate using vertical flow wetlands

CAMAÑO SILVESTRINI N.E.; MAINE M.A.; HADAD H.R.; CAMPAGNOLI M.; NOCETTI E.; SANCHEZ, G.C.

Conferencia; 16th IWA International Conference on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control.; 2018

The aim of this work was to evaluate Cr(III), Ni(II) and Zn(II) removal from a landfill leachate usingmesocosms-scale VFWs with recirculation.VFWs were filled with coarse sand and light expanded clay aggregates andwere planted with Typha domingensis or Canna indica. Real leachate was diluted and spiked with metals to reach thefollowing concentrations: 0.2 mg/L Cr + 0.2 mg/L Ni + 0.2 mg/L Zn, and 1.0 mg/L Cr + 1.0 mg/L Ni + 1.0 mg/L Zn. Theeffluent was dumped and recirculated daily. Removal efficiencies for VFWs planted with T. domingensis/C. indica were:43/36, 24/20, 39/32 % for Cr, Ni and Zn at 0.2 mg/L, and 68/62, 60/49, 56/45 % for Cr, Ni and Zn at 1.0 mg/L,respectively. Recirculation enhances removal efficiencies significantly, being for VFWs planted with T. domingensis/C.indica: 60/54, 49/47, 61/47 % for Cr, Ni and Zn at 0.2 mg/L, and 80/71, 76/62, 73/59 % for Cr, Ni, and Zn at 1.0 mg/L,respectively. VFWs planted with T. domingensis presented higher metal removal efficiencies than those planted with C.indica. Plant biomass and metal concentrations in roots increased significantly after experiment. VFWs proved to beefficient in Cr(III), Ni and Zn removal from a landfill leachate.