Waste Water Treatment

In a traditional landfill, the treatment and containment of wastewater, also known as leachate, is a considerable challenge.

At the Lafleche BioReactor, this challenge has been met by containing all leachate on site and putting it to work in the service of a cleaner, more sustainable environment.

As waste deteriorates in the BioReactor, the leachate is collected in a network of drainage piping below the waste and is separated into two streams.

One part is re-circulated into the waste bed from which it came. Re-circulating the leachate encourages an accelerated anaerobic reaction within the waste, and can accelerate decomposition in the BioReactor by as much as 15 - 20 years.

The remainder is pumped into 2 aeration ponds.  The aeration ponds are equipped with twenty-five 24hp aerators and leachate storage capacity of 27,000m3.  The aerobic process enhances biological activity which reduces the ammonia and starts the treatment process.

The pre-treated leachate is removed from the aeration ponds and pumped to the influent equalization tank located in the Waste Water Treatment Facility for further treatment through a series of Rotating Biological Contactors (RBC’s).  The facility is designed to biologically and chemically treat raw leachate at a designed flow rate of 419m3 per day (annual treatment capacity of 150,000m3). 

The final treatment process is microfiltration via a Pall® filtration system.  The treated effluent is then directed to effluent storage ponds.  Ponds are sampled prior to batch discharge into the Fraser Drain, pending compliance with approved Ministry of the Environment discharge criteria.