Comparison performance of coagulation flocculation process and combination with ozonation process of stabilized landfill leachate treatment

Landfill leachate is well known as a hazardous byproduct from dumpling sites that has a negative impact on the environment and human life. Therefore, an effective treatment is imperative to overcome this issue. This research study investigates the effectiveness of zirconium tetrachloride (ZrCl4) and tin tetrachloride (SnCl4) as a coagulant in leachate treatment. Two parameters selected as a performance indicator in this study are color and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The data obtained showed that SnCl4 performed well as a coagulant with removal percentages of color and COD, which are 97% and 77%, respectively. Furthermore, the potential of integrated treatment using ozonation (O-3) and the coagulation-flocculation process was also investigated. Four sequences of integrated treatment setup for this study were ozonation followed by jar test (ZrCl4 as a coagulant), ozonation followed by jar test (SnCl4 as a coagulant), jar test (ZrCl4 as a coagulant) followed by the ozonation process, and jar test (SnCl4 as a coagulant) followed by the ozonation process. The experimental data showed that the combination treatment of SnCl4 as a coagulant (jar test) followed by the ozonation process had recorded the highest removal of color (97.1%) and COD (88%) compared to other sequences. Moreover, the biodegradability ratio of this sequence also improved from 0.03 to 0.28, compared with other methods. Comparatively, integrated treatment is more effective in treating stabilized landfill leachate compared to the coagulation flocculation process alone. Practitioner Points Stabilized landfill leachate is difficult to be treated by natural coagulants or biological process. SnCl4 performed well as a coagulant in removing COD and colour from landfill leachate compared to ZrCl4. However, too much usage of SnCl4 potentially generate secondary pollutant. Therefore, combination with O-3 as pre-treatment is investigated. Combination treatment of SnCl4 ( as coagulant) with O-3 had recorded the highest removal of colour (97.1%) and COD (88%). The biodegradability ratio of this sequence also improved from 0.03 to 0.28.