ANAEROBIC TREATMENT OF MUNICIPAL SANITARY-LANDFILL LEACHATES - THE PROBLEM OF REFRACTORY AND TOXIC COMPONENTS

The wide use of municipal sanitary landfills has drawn attention to th e leaching effluent generated, this may be problematic to the site's e nvironment, whether by infiltration or other contaminating modes. Anae robic digestion has been shown to be one of the most efficient systems with which to treat this type of effluent. This article reviews the t echniques used by different authors for leachate characterization, spe cifically related to refractory and toxic components and their effect on anaerobic treatability. In addition, it covers the treatment of ref ractory organics, organic and inorganic toxic materials and the nutrie nt balance for adequate system operation. The main conclusions are tha t there is ample availability of methods by which to identify the diff erent components present in leachates as well as for their toxicity as sessment and that nutrients are in general available in sufficient amo unts. Treatability studies are presented which are shown to be of gene ral value and can be used in a straightforward manner.