Land Application of Municipal Landfill Leachate: Fate of Ions and Ammonia Volatilization

Abstract

Landfill leachates are pollutants rich in ammoniacal N, Na, and K, but land application potentially offers an alternative for recycling these leachate nutrients. We applied landfill leachate corresponding to 0, 110, 220, 330, and 440 kg ha of total N, divided in three applications (July, August, and October 2008), onto the surface of an acidic (pH 5.5-6.0) clay (79% clay) Ultisol and monitored NH volatilization just after applications and microbiological (0-10 cm) and chemical attributes (0-60-cm soil depth) in August 2008, January 2009, and May 2009. Ammonium (up to 30 mg kg), NO (up to 160 mg kg), Na, K (up to 1.1 cmol kg each), and electrical conductivity (up to 1 dS m) increased transiently in soil following applications. Despite >90% of the total leachate N being ammoniacal, NO predominated in the first soil sampling, 14 d after the second application, suggesting fast nitrification, but it decreased in the soil profile thereafter. From 5 to 25% of the total applied N volatilized as NH, with maximum losses within the first 3 d. Applications inhibited (50%) the relative nitrification rate and increased (50%) hot-water-soluble carbohydrates in the soil at the highest rate. No effects were observed on soil microbial biomass C (114-205 mg kg) and activity (5-8 mg CO-C kg d) or on corn grain yields (6349-7233 kg ha). Controlled land application seems to be a viable alternative for landfill leachate management, but NO leaching, NH volatilization, and accumulation of salinizing ions must be monitored in the long term to prevent environmental degradation.

Effect of Landfill Leachate on Cereal Nutrition and Productivity and on Soil Properties

“…Nevertheless, even after treatment, the leachate may not fit the parameters required by environmental agencies for release in water streams (Renou et al, 2008). In this context, soil applications have become a promising way to recycle landfill leachates (Santos et al, 2013).…”

“…Thus, the effects on plants are mainly attributable to available nutrients, which can be assessed directly by measuring their concentrations in plants (Tewolde et al, 2005). However, few studies have been done on land application of landfill leachates (e.g., Wilson et al, 2007; Santos et al, 2013), and few studies have assessed how nutrients in leachate can contribute to plant nutrition and production.…”

Optimizing landfill site selection by using land classification maps

“…A large number of studies have been conducted in the past several decades on how landfills may impact on the environment, such as through gas emission, olfactory nuisance, and global greenhouse effects (e.g., Molins et al 2008;Chanton et al 2009;Lou and Nair 2009;Bogner et al 2011), landfill leachate generation (Lee et al 2002;MacDonald et al 2008;Renou et al 2008;Santos et al 2013), pollution control and health risk assessment (Chrysikou et al 2008;Mari et al 2009), and landfill phytoremediation and bioremediation (Bennett et al 2003;Kim and Owens 2010;Justin et al 2010;Davari et al 2015). Other studies have focused on optimal siting of waste treatment facilities (Aragonés-Beltrán et al 2010;Tavares et al 2011) and on landfill site selection (Ekmekcioglu et al 2010;Gorsevski et al 2012;Eskandari et al 2013).…”

Oxisol physical quality with application of landfill leachate

“…The average altitude of the area is 570 m and the average annual rainfall is 1,616 mm. The climate is of type Cfa, humid subtropical with an average annual temperature of 22.5°C (ALVAREZ et al, 2013 Santos et al (2013). For practical reasons, the N doses were kept the same throughout the years.…”

“…Further details of the management history and applications can be found in Santos et al (2013) e Panchoni et al (2016. The mean values of the chemical properties of the leachate used in applications are presented in table 1.…”