Nature based solutions applied to mature leachate treatment in the Latin American resource-poor environment

Some Latin American countries have implemented environmental policies which have enhanced a shift in domestic solid waste practices from open dumps to sanitary landfills, bringing about a serious challenge to the region in terms of leachate management both in the operation and the aftercare phases o...

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Autores:
Vásquez Sarria, Nancy
Holguin Gonzalez, Javier Ernesto
Gandini Ayerbe, Mario Andrés
Tipo de recurso:
Article of investigation
Fecha de publicación:
2023
Institución:
Universidad Autónoma de Occidente
Repositorio:
RED: Repositorio Educativo Digital UAO
Idioma:
eng
OAI Identifier:
oai:red.uao.edu.co:10614/15844
Acceso en línea:
https://hdl.handle.net/10614/15844
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jece.2023.110641
https://red.uao.edu.co/
Palabra clave:
Mature leachate treatment
Nature based solutions
Nitrogen removal
Treatment constructed wetlands
Rights
openAccess
License
Derechos reservados - Elsevier, 2023
Description
Summary:Some Latin American countries have implemented environmental policies which have enhanced a shift in domestic solid waste practices from open dumps to sanitary landfills, bringing about a serious challenge to the region in terms of leachate management both in the operation and the aftercare phases of landfills. This work looks at the viability of Nature based Solutions (NbS) in the Latin American resource-poor environment as a costefficient alternative for dealing with such a challenge. In particular, an experimental trial was carried out in order to evaluate the contaminants removal of four subsurface constructed wetlands at a pilot scale, for treating mature leachate with emphasis on nitrogen removal. The wetlands were set in two treatment lines: (1) a vertical flow wetland followed by a horizontal flow wetland and (2) two vertical flow wetlands in series. Each line was fed at a 173 L.d 1 rate of mature leachate. The wetlands were planted with a polyculture of the tropical plants Colocasia esculenta and Heliconia psittacorum in a random way and the support media used was composed of 3/8″ gravel and gross sand. Both treatment lines showed similar behaviours and it is important to highlight that ammoniacal nitrogen, that is the principal contaminant to treat, was significantly removed (40% approx.) considering the high loads the system was fed with (490 kg.d-1 TAN). It is considered that the removal mechanism of the ammoniacal nitrogen is a biological nitrification-denitrification process, due to the increase of nitrite and nitrate concentrations in the effluent, as well as the bicarbonate alkalinity consumption. These results suggest the system proposed as an NbS has promising potential for leachate treatment in Latin American countries