Collection and treatment of landfill leachate

Landfill leaching water accrues at the base of a landfill and may only be discharged into watercourses if the leachate quality complies with the legal provisions (e.g. Water Law Act 1959 §33b and AEV Landfill Leakerwasser Annex A). Therefore, treatment is required in many cases prior to discharge into the pre-floods. The report of the Federal Environment Agency describes the quantities of leachate generated as well as their quality, treatment and disposal on the basis of 35 selected Austrian landfills. The investigation showed that around two thirds of the mass waste — landfills discharge the leachate into a municipal wastewater treatment plant; for the remaining third, it is treated at its own site. The specific costs of leachate disposal and treatment are different, and the treatment at your own site is the most expensive.