PEN ARGYL, Penn., Sept., 23, 2004 – The Grand Central Sanitary Landfill, located in Pen Argyl, Penn., about 60 miles north of Philadelphia, will use a PACT® (powdered activated carbon) treatment system and Zimpro® inclined plate separator to treat its landfill leachate.

The $1.1M system provided by USFilter will be used to precipitate and settle metals, treat organics, and remove nitrogen and color, allowing for sewer discharge to a local municipal wastewater treatment plant or for further processing prior to river discharge. The system will replace a twelve-year-old clarifier and biological treatment plant that is not consistently meeting performance goals due to changing leachate quality and discharge criteria.

“The landfill was facing new color removal requirements and increasing ammonia loadings that the existing system could not handle,” says Bruce Fahs, Grand Central operations manager.  “The PACT system will allow us to meet the treatment requirements and eliminate leachate hauling.”

The PACT system, which uses powdered activated carbon and bacteria together for simultaneous physical adsorption and biological assimilation, stabilizes the system against upsets and shock loadings often found in landfill leachates. The system was chosen after extensive technology comparisons, and bench- and pilot-scale testing confirmed that the technology could successfully treat the leachate to discharge standards when high levels of nitrogen and color were present. The PACT system will also fit inside an existing building.

Inclined plate separators are designed to remove and thicken suspended and flocculated solids from waters and wastewaters in one complete system, using a fraction of the space used by conventional clarifiers. Rapid mixing and flocculation tanks are followed by an inclined plate section with either a sludge thickener or a sludge hopper underneath.

Both technologies are being supplied by USFilter Zimpro Products in Rothschild, Wis. Over a dozen landfills currently use the PACT system to treat landfill leachate, and there are hundreds of separator installations operating today.

USFilter partnered with engineer EarthRes Group of Pipersville, Penn., on the project, and is represented in the local area by Riordan Materials Corp., Blue Bell, Penn.

The landfill is owned by Waste Management, Inc., of Houston, Texas.