Remediation of the landfill leachate of Fez city (Morocco) by sono-photo-Fenton process: Cost and phytotoxicity assessment

A new Advanced Oxidation process (AOP) using the ultrasound-photo-Fenton process (US-P-FP) was used to treat stabilized landfill leachate from Fez City (Morocco). The effectiveness of the US-P-FP for landfill leachate treatment was investigated in terms of COD, UV254, and color removal. The operating factors (Fe2+ dosage, pH, H2O2 dosage, ultrasonic (US), UV-A) were optimized by the two-level factorial design. The findings reveal that the highest removal of COD, UV254, and color from the landfill leachate was 93 %, 77 %, and 98 %, respectively, at the optimum operation conditions [Fe2+] = 446 mg/L, [H2O2] = 250 mg/L and a pH = 3 in the presence of both US and UV-A irradiations. The phytotoxicity assessment of untreated and sono-photo-Fenton treated leachate samples was conducted through seed germination and root elongation tests using Medicago sativa seeds as bioindicators. The experimental results showed that the ultrasound-photo-Fenton process allowed a significant phytotoxicity reduction. Overall, the sono-photo-Fenton process proves to be a viable and efficient method for landfill leachate treatment.

Automated summary

This study investigated the use of an ultrasound-photo-Fenton process (US-P-FP) for landfill leachate treatment. The results showed that the process effectively removed COD, UV254, and color from the leachate. Optimization of operating factors resulted in the highest removal efficiencies at specific conditions, and the treated leachate showed reduced phytotoxicity.