Analysis of Filtration Abilities of Geotextile Leachate Filters in Solid Waste Landfills.
Abstract
Subtitle D of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act promulgated strict design, construction, and operation standards for Solid Waste Landfills. Most notably it requires the use of an effective leachate collection system to ensure that leachate does not leak into the surrounding environment and groundwater. An integral part of the leachate collection system is the use of a filter media which separates the solid waste from the collection system and ensures that the leachate system does not become clogged. Currently two major design strategies have been used to fulfill this function. They are to use either a sand media or a geotextile. The trend today is for the use of a geotextile. This has the advantages of being easier to install, more cost effective, and more dependable in many cases. Research in the past has focused on the clogging of these geotextiles which serve as a filter for landfill leachate. Although it can be predicted with some certainty when the geotextile will clog, it is not known if geotextiles will provide removal of any leachate contaminants. In the course of this research, the filtering ability of four separate geotextiles were investigated. One new design using a geocomposite was also tested to see if it could enhance the performance of the filtering system. Geosynthetics ability to remove chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, zinc, and iron was examined. Verification of the clogging potential of these geosynthetics was also conducted and compared to past research. Both high and low concentration synthetic (mixed in the laboratory) leachates were used to compare the differences in the geotextiles. It was found that all geotextiles tested removed statistically significant amounts of the TSS and COD load. Removals were found to be proportional to pollutant load.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1996
- Accession Number
- ADA307504
Entities
People
- Reinhard W. Koenig