Application of different magnetic intensities for the treatment of landfill leachate in Egypt

Leachate produced from sanitary landfill should be treated before discharge into the environment, whereas it contains high concentrations of organic pollutants and high counts of pathogenic microorganisms. A bench-scale treatment unit was designed to study the effects of low-strength magnetic field on the physicochemical and bacterial properties of landfill leachate using three different magnetic intensities (120, 240 and 360 mu T). Also, the effect of contact time was examined. Characterization of raw leachate showed high concentrations of organic pollutants and conductivity as well as high counts of both total bacterial count and total coliforms. The results showed the ability of magnetic force to improve the quality of leachate. Moreover, it was observed that, by increasing the magnetic intensity, the removal percent of pollutants increased. The magnetic force of 360 mu T showed the maximum removal percent of 38.2, 30.5, 16.0, 32.7, 16.0, 45.2 and 41.2% of Biological Oxygen Demand, Chemical Oxygen Demand, Total Suspended Solids, ammonia-nitrogen, conductivity, total bacterial count, and total coliforms, respectively. Depending on the obtained results, the magnetic force can be used as a clean, cheap and eco-friendly pre-treatment technology for the improvement of physicochemical and bacterial properties of landfill leachate.