Influence of Leachate Quality on Reverse Osmosis Performance

In paper an influence of leachate from landfills with different exploitation time on reverse osmosis performance during their treatment was presented. An unstabilized leachate from landfill of two years exploitation and stabilized leachate from landfill with operation time over 10 years were taken to analysis. The analyses were conducted with use of RO system constructed to reflect the actual operating conditions of the reverse osmosis system exploited on municipal landfills. These two kind of leachate was directed to the reverse osmosis system by maintaining during their filtration the same operating parameters (temperature, pressure, flow rate, recovery rate and pH of leachate). The obtained results indicated that filtration of stabilized leachate is characterized by better performance of the RO system, i.e. shorter filtration time, higher permeate flow and higher salt retention. The higher concentration of organic matter in unstabilized leachate contributes to membrane pores blocking decreases the efficiency of the osmotic system. Moreover, high organic content in the leachate from young landfills, with a high concentration of cations, leads to an unfavorable phenomenon of neutralization of the membrane surface.