Landfill Leachate Treatment through Fungi in an Attached Growth System

Conventional wastewater treatment have proved to be highly efficient on domestic effluents. On the contrary, other anthropogenic effluents such as landfill leachate require complex and specific treatments. In this study the efficiency of attached fungal biomass in landfill leachate treatment has been evaluated according to different experimental conditions. Landfill leachate was treated using the white rot fungus Bjerkandera adusta MUT 2295 on biofilm, through batch and continuous tests. Enzymatic activity was assayed in bacth tests in a) 1:1 diluted leachate, b) 1:2 diluted leachate, c) pretreated leachate with aerobic granular sludge and raw leachate with two different co-substrates d) glucose 1 g/L and e) malt extract 1 g/L. Continuous tests on diluted leachate (1:1) are currently ongoing under non sterile conditions. The treatment has been operative for 60 days resulting in a maximum chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal of 40% without additional carbon source.