Essential Leachate PFAS Treatment and Management Training for Landfill Professionals
Increasingly, landfills can play a critical societal role in the management of PFAS wastes and concentrates resulting from PFAS removal from water and wastewater streams and industrial cleanups. Landfills have a large capacity to sequester and store PFAS waste. The small quantities of PFAS in leachate open opportunities for landfill managers to develop synergistic relationships with wastewater treatment plants for managing PFAS-laden biosolids and leachate. Landfill managers need to understand the management options and opportunities available to them to address the PFAS issue.
Landfill managers and other professionals also need to understand the benefits, costs, commercialization status of the myriad of treatment technologies and systems that are available to treat leachate for PFAS removal on site. This course provides the information and education needed to understand and evaluate these technologies.
Finally, landfill managers need to understand the drivers and consequences of the ever-changing PFAS regulatory landscape and how new and future regulations could impact their choices of management approaches and technologies selection.
This course equips landfill personnel with the terminology and high-level understanding necessary to engage with regulators, engineers, and vendors about leachate management and treatment options and requirements.
This course will be presented as a live, in-person learning event led by a SWANA-certified faculty instructor.
The course is being held in conjunction with the SWANA Region 4 conference. More details on the event are available here.
Modules 1-4: Managing Landfill Leachate
- Discuss the basics of Landfill Leachate:
- Identify the sources, composition, and generation of landfill leachate
- Identify Key Leachate Treatment Technologies:
- Identify various biological, physical, and chemical treatment processes used in
leachate management, including their principles, applications, and effectiveness.
- Identify various biological, physical, and chemical treatment processes used in
- Compare On-Site and Off-Site Treatment Options:
- Discuss the differences between on-site and off-site leachate treatment methods,
including the advantages, disadvantages, and considerations for each approach.
- Discuss the differences between on-site and off-site leachate treatment methods,
- Evaluate the Chemistry and Characteristics of Leachate:
- Identify the key organic and inorganic compounds in leachate and the factors
influencing leachate composition, such as waste type, landfill age, and operational
practices.
- Identify the key organic and inorganic compounds in leachate and the factors
Modules 5-8: PFAS and Emerging Contaminants
- Define Emerging Contaminants:
- Discuss what emerging contaminants are, with a focus on PFAS, microplastics, and endocrine disruptors, and recognize their sources and potential impacts on the environment and human health.
- Comprehend PFAS Regulations and Implications:
- Identify current and upcoming federal, state, and local regulations regarding PFAS and their implications for landfill leachate management.
- Identify Technologies for PFAS Removal:
- Identify various PFAS removal technologies, including granular activated carbon, ion exchange, and reverse osmosis, and discuss their principles, applications, and effectiveness.
- Understand PFAS Destruction Technologies:
- Discuss technologies used for the destruction of PFAS, such as supercritical water oxidation, high alkaline treatment, electrochemical oxidation, and plasma technologies.
- Evaluate the Potential Long-term Impact of PFAS and Emerging Contaminants:
- Discuss the potential future impacts of PFAS and other emerging contaminants and the important role of landfills in managing these contaminants.
Upon completion of the course selected, SWANA awards participants 6 Professional Development Hours (PDHs), formerly referred to as CEUs, to apply toward a current SWANA certification.