A Comparative Study of Matang and Kuala Sembeling Landfills Leachate Characteristics

Understanding the characteristic of leachate is important since it has complexity properties because of the variation in its composition. This study, analyzed and compared two leachate from two landfill sites, namely, Matang and Kuala Sembeling landfill. Leachate raw samples were collected by grab sampling and were analyzed for 11 parameters. The average concentrations of MLS and KSLS leachate such as BOD5 (146 and 61 mg/L), COD (828 and 363 mg/L), pH (7.6 and 8), SS (407 and 220 mg/L), ammonia (868 and 367 mg/L) , BOD/COD (0.18 and 0.14), cadmium (0.19 and 0.1 mg/L), cuprum (0.09 and 0.1 mg/L), nickel (0.17 and 0.1 mg/L), manganese (0.09 and 0.22 mg/L), and ferum (2.3 and 8.3 mg/L) were recorded, respectively. The results revealed that the both landfills are categorized as partially stabilized leachate. The strength of leachate pollutants from MLS are higher than KSLS because of the higher fraction of organics concentration. There are 5 parameters (BOD5, COD, ammonia, SS and cadmium) in MLS and 7 parameters (BOD5, COD, ammonia, SS, cadmium, manganese and ferum) in KSLS exceeded the permissible limit stated by MEQA (1974), and so leachates from both landfill sites need a suitable treatment to reduce the concentration of the leachate pollutants before discharge into environment.