Choosing the right leachate treatment technology is one of the most consequential decisions a landfill operator will make. Get it wrong, and you risk sinking significant capital into a full-scale plant that can’t consistently meet discharge consents. That’s the exact problem addressed by the Organics Treatability Unit — a compact, multi-process pilot plant designed to let site operators and their consultants trial several treatment technologies side by side, using real site leachate, before any full-scale commitment is made.
The Challenge: Picking the Right Technology First Time
Leachate composition varies enormously from site to site, and even fluctuates significantly over time at a single site. This variability makes it genuinely difficult to know in advance whether a biological process will run stably, whether membrane fouling will be a problem, or how much activated carbon a polishing stage will consume. Committing to a full-scale plant without this knowledge is a costly gamble.
Testing a technology before committing capital and resources isn’t just good engineering practice — it’s often essential to satisfying regulators that a proposed treatment method will actually achieve the required treatment objectives.
The Treatability Unit exists specifically to close this knowledge gap, generating site-specific performance data that can be used both for technology selection and for correctly sizing the eventual full-scale plant.
What’s Inside the Unit
The Treatability Unit is a single integrated skid that combines several distinct treatment technologies, each of which can be tested alone or in combination with the others. This flexibility means an operator can explore a wide range of treatment trains — biological, physical, and membrane-based — without needing to hire or build separate pilot rigs for each one.
Core Process Stages
- Fully-mixed anaerobic vessel – for high-rate biological carbon removal with low energy input
- Aerated chamber – for nitrification, denitrification, and biodegradable carbon oxidation
- Rotating biological contactor (RBC) – an alternative biological treatment configuration
- Ultra-filtration unit – can be paired with either biological process
- Ammonia stripper column – a physical process for ammonia removal
- Activated carbon column – typically used as a polishing stage
- Two-stage reverse osmosis plant – for high-quality effluent suitable for aquifer discharge
Supporting Systems
To keep the unit running reliably during extended trials, it also includes:
- A leachate heater
- Acid dosing for pH control
- A CIP (clean-in-place) system for the reverse osmosis membranes
How Each Technology Performs
Ammonia Stripper
A purely physical process, ammonia stripping is effective as a standalone treatment step for removing ammonia, particularly where biological nitrification/denitrification may be unreliable due to variable influent conditions.
Aerated Vessel
This stage supports testing of nitrification, denitrification, and biodegradable carbon oxidation. Where these can be combined effectively, it may offer a good balance between operational cost and reliability in meeting discharge requirements.
Anaerobic Vessel
Anaerobic treatment achieves high rates of biological carbon removal with low energy input, making it particularly well suited to high-strength leachates — the kind often encountered at fully contained landfill sites.
Activated Carbon Column
Usually deployed as a polishing step after biological treatment, this unit can also be used to determine expected carbon consumption rates — valuable data if activated carbon dosing is being considered for the full-scale design.
Two-Stage Reverse Osmosis
Widely regarded as the most reliable method of producing water fit for discharge to an aquifer, reverse osmosis removes essentially all suspended and colloidal material along with most dissolved solids. Trials are important for verifying the optimal staging arrangement and confirming membrane performance against a specific leachate’s characteristics.
Ultra-Filtration
Ultra-filtration enhances biological reactor performance and can virtually eliminate sludge production. Its effluent can be routed onward to reverse osmosis or activated carbon for further polishing.
Technical Summary
| Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|
| Anaerobic treatment | Fully-mixed vessel |
| Aerobic treatment | Aerated chamber |
| Alternative biological stage | Rotating biological contactor (RBC) |
| Membrane filtration | Ultra-filtration (compatible with either biological process) |
| Ammonia removal | Dedicated stripper column |
| Polishing | Activated carbon column |
| Final treatment | Two-stage reverse osmosis with CIP system |
| pH control | Acid dosing |
| Temperature control | Integrated leachate heater |
| Maximum flow rate | Up to 70 cubic feet per day |
| Recommended trial duration | Minimum of one month, with continuous influent/effluent monitoring |
| Higher flow requirements | Separate skid-mounted units available on request |
Practical Application on Site
The Treatability Unit is available on a short-term hire basis, giving site operators or their environmental consultants the ability to assess how well a particular technology — or combination of technologies — meets their specific site needs.
Because influent concentrations at many sites vary significantly, biological processes can be difficult to operate stably without prior testing. Running a meaningful trial over an extended period reduces the uncertainty that comes with installing plant requiring substantial financial outlay. The supplier also advises on designing an appropriate test programme to demonstrate success to both internal stakeholders and regulators.
The unit can operate with a flow rate of up to 70 cubic feet per day, with a recommended minimum trial period of one month and continuous testing of influent and effluent concentrations.
For larger-scale piloting needs, separate skid-mounted units can be supplied to accommodate higher flow rates.
Key Advantages
- De-risk capital investment by testing technologies before committing to full-scale plant
- Support regulatory approval by demonstrating that a proposed treatment method achieves treatment objectives
- Compare multiple options — biological, physical, and membrane-based — within a single hire package, avoiding large upfront financial outlay
- Access technical expertise, with qualified technicians and engineers available to help design test runs and evaluate results
Summary
Selecting a leachate treatment technology without site-specific trial data is a costly risk. The Treatability Unit brings together anaerobic and aerobic biological treatment, an RBC, ultra-filtration, ammonia stripping, activated carbon, and two-stage reverse osmosis in one hireable pilot platform — allowing operators to test, compare, and validate treatment options using their own leachate before committing to full-scale design. With a recommended one-month minimum trial period and flows up to 70 cubic feet per day, it provides the data needed to satisfy regulators and correctly size the eventual full-scale installation.
If you’re evaluating leachate treatment options for your site and want to understand which technology — or combination of technologies — will deliver reliable, compliant results, get in touch with our team to discuss a treatability trial tailored to your leachate characteristics.