The Three Rivers Solid Waste Authority (TRSWA) operates a MSW landfill outside Jackson, South Carolina (USA) at which leachate ammonia concentrations are of concern. The landfill operates a droplet spraying/misting system (known as the Lilypad system) in their pond to enhance both leachate evaporation and, possibly, ammonia volatilization. The overall goals of this study were to determine the fate of nitrogen in the pond and to ultimately quantify the role the Lilypad system plays in enhancing ammonia removal. To accomplish the study goals, an empirical model based on collected leachate and mist samples, climatological data, and pond hydraulic data was developed to quantify the extent of ammonia volatilization, nitrification, and denitrification that occurred in the pond over the study period. Results from this work indicate that volatilization, nitrification, and denitrification were occurring in the pond, with volatilization of ammonia-nitrogen accounting for the majority of nitrogen removed from the pond. Results also indicate that the Lilypad system has the capability to significantly enhance the volatilization process.

Three Rivers Solid Waste Authority (TRSWA) operates a MSW landfill outside Jackson, South Carolina at which leachate is stored in a collection pond then trucked to a local wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) for treatment. This landfill operates a droplet spraying/misting system (referred to as the Lilypad system) to enhance leachate evaporation and ultimately reduce the quantity of leachate in the pond that requires subsequent treatment. Little work investigating the efficacy in using such a system to enhance leachate evaporation has been reported. The overall goal associated with this study was to quantify the amount of evaporation enhanced by the droplet spraying system and evaluate how the economics of the enhanced leachate evaporation compare to hauling leachate to a WWTP. This was accomplished by performing a water balance on the pond, developing a simple model to link leachate evaporation to the droplet spraying system, and performing an economic evaluation of the system. Overall, results from this work indicate the use of a droplet spraying/misting system to enhance leachate evaporation at on-site storage/collection ponds is effective, resulting in between 2.1 to 2.6 times more evaporation than what would occur naturally. In addition, the economic evaluation of this system indicates that operating the Lilypad system at maximum speed/flow for the greatest number of hours results in saving up to 7% of the total cost when compared to no operation of the Lilypad system.