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Phosphate removal from landfill leachate using ferric iron bioremediation under anaerobic condition

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Abstract

Landfill leachates contain a variety of contaminants including phosphorus, whose entry into the surface waters should be restricted given the eutrophication risks. In this study, we investigated the utility of the ferric iron bioreduction process to remove phosphorus from municipal landfill leachate. An anaerobic bioreduction experiment was conducted in diluted leachate (1:5), in the presence of Shewanella sp. (108 cell mL−1). Two iron minerals, hematite (H) and nontronite (NAU-2) were also employed as Fe(III) sources. Serial sampling was carried out during incubation at 0, 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 days. The results confirmed that bioreduction of Fe(III) occurred in the presence of both iron minerals but more extensively in the presence of NAU-2. Phosphate was precipitated chemically as struvite during the first days of the experiment, correlated to the high initial concentrations of ammonium and magnesium in the leachate. Subsequently, phosphate removal was shown to be proportional to biological Fe(II) generation and creating the conditions for precipitation of vivianite. Overall, phosphate removal from leachate in suspensions containing hematite or NAU-2 was 83 and 86%, respectively.

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Acknowledgements

Appreciation is expressed to the Caspian Sea Basin Research Center for the support of the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, University of Guilan, 41635-1314, Rasht, Iran

    M. B. Farhangi, Z. Ghasemzadeh, N. Ghorbanzadeh & M. Khalilirad

  2. Department of Water Engineering and Environment, Caspian Sea Basin Research Center, University of Guilan, 41635-1314, Rasht, Iran

    M. B. Farhangi

  3. School of Science and the Environment, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Corner Brook, NL, A2H 5G4, Canada

    A. Unc

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Contributions

Conceptualization: NG and MBF, methodology: ZG, formal analysis and investigation: MK, writing—original draft preparation: MBF and NG; review and editing: AU, funding acquisition, resources, and supervision: MBF.

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Correspondence to M. B. Farhangi.

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Farhangi, M.B., Ghasemzadeh, Z., Ghorbanzadeh, N. et al. Phosphate removal from landfill leachate using ferric iron bioremediation under anaerobic condition. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 23, 1576–1587 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-021-01239-y

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