Leachate is the hardest routine wastewater there is: ammonia in the thousands of mg/L, COD that does not biodegrade easily, salinity that climbs as the fill ages, and a composition that changes with rainfall. No single media solves it. What follows is where each product family actually earns its place.
Leachate nitrification is limited by the growth rate of nitrifiers, not by the concentration of ammonia. In suspended growth, a plant must hold a sludge age long enough to keep those organisms in the system while the hydraulic load changes with every storm. Attached growth removes that coupling: the nitrifiers stay on the carrier while the water passes through.
That is the whole argument. It does not mean an MBBR replaces the rest of the train; it means the biological stage can be sized against the ammonia load with a biomass inventory that does not wash out.
| Published carriers | K1–K5, HDPE, Φ10–25 mm, specific surface above 800–1000 m²/m³ |
| Fill fraction | 15–67 % of reactor working volume |
| Nitrification rate | Published per series, 400–1200 gN/m³·day |
| Method | Mass of ammonia removed per day ÷ the published rate = carrier volume; then divide by reactor volume and check the band |
| Temperature | 5–60 °C service range, but the rate is not constant across it — size on the coldest sustained period, not the annual average |
Settling media. Used after chemical precipitation or in the clarifier ahead of the biological stage, to hold the area the leachate flow actually needs. The published loading band is 3–5 t/m²·h and the channel velocity check at 2.5–3.0 mm/s applies unchanged.
Disc aerators. Leachate nitrification is oxygen-hungry, and the oxygen transfer rate is set by the aerator, not the carrier. Clean oil-free air is the single biggest factor in membrane life, and a fouled membrane quietly removes the capacity a bigger carrier volume was supposed to add.
ABS pipe and fittings. Leachate attacks metals. ABS lines for air, dosing and sampling are the usual choice, with the pressure class and temperature confirmed against the medium rather than assumed.
What we do not claim. We manufacture media and aeration equipment. We do not design leachate treatment trains, and we do not claim removal figures for leachate as a medium: any supplier who quotes you a single removal percentage for leachate has not seen your analysis.
Attached growth is used at that concentration because it holds the nitrifier inventory, but the oxygen demand and the alkalinity consumption at that level decide whether the stage is feasible, and both need the actual analysis. Send the numbers and we will size the carrier volume against the published nitrification rate rather than estimate.
The worst sustained case, for both temperature and load. Leachate gets stronger as the site ages and wetter as the season turns; a design based on the annual mean is an average of failures.
No. We supply the media, the aerators, the nozzles and the pipework, sized against the plant your engineer has designed. We are not an EPC contractor and we will say so rather than take an order we cannot deliver properly.
Published specification sheets, the sizing calculation with its assumptions stated, and the material certificates we actually hold. Where a specific certificate of conformity is required, raise it at enquiry stage so it is agreed before the price, not after.
Ammonia, COD, salinity, flow range, coldest sustained temperature and the reactor you have. We return the carrier volume, the fill fraction and the aeration implication.
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