Electrocoagulation in removal of cod and heavy metal in leachate from Pulau Burung landfill site (PBLS), Penang

In solid waste management, landfilling is the most common methods for the disposal of municipal solid wastes in many countries around the world. Leachate is one of the major environmental concerns associated with landfilling which may either exist as aqueous effluent in the landfill or created after rainwater mixes with the chemical waste in the landfill. Landfill leachate is characterized as high-strength wastewater exhibiting acute and chronic toxicity (Deng and Englehardt, 2006). Leachates has high concentration of COD (Cossu et al., 1998) and heavy metals.The commonly found elements in high concentration includes iron, manganese, zinc, chromium, lead, copper and cadmium (Aziz et al., 2004). This contaminant leads to serious pollution within medium in contact with the waste especially on soil (Tsai et al,. 1996) and groundwater aquifers (Contreras et al., 2009) as well as adjacent surface water (Atmaca, 2009). Electrocoagulation is an electrochemical wastewater treatment technology that has been successfully employed in removing metals, suspended particles, clay minerals, organic dyes, and oil and greases from a variety of industrial effluents (Mollah et al., 2004). According to Aziz et al., (2007), Pulau Burung Landfill Site (PBLS) is situated within Byram Forest Reserve in Penang, Malaysia. This landfill has been developed as a sanitary landfill Level II by establishing a controlled tipping technique in 1991. It was further upgraded to a sanitary landfill level III by employing controlled tipping with leachate recirculation in 2001. Based on the case study by Syarifah and Abdul Yamin (2009), the real average value of tonnage at this sanitary landfill now is about 2 200 tonnes per day. Roughly, the disposal wastes are divided into two categories which are domestic waste (60%) and industrial waste (40%).

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