Treatment of landfill leachate is a challenge due to its complex chemical composition and high recalcitrance and because of high costs for conventional wastewater treatment. In our study, leachate from the Quitaúna Landfill, Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region, Brazil, was treated at a laboratory scale with a horizontal subsurface flow constructed treatment wetland (HF-CTW) operating under a recirculation regime. Two units planted with Heliconia psittacorum (HP) and Cyperus papyrus (CP), and one unplanted control unit were assessed. With a recirculation regime over 21 days, the planted units removed 40% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) while the control unit removed only 29%. True color removal efficiencies were 2, 22, and 23% for the control, HP, and CP HF-CTWs, respectively. The ammonium nitrogen removal efficiencies for a 21-day hydraulic retention time (HRT) were 63–81% for planted units and 72% for the control. The increase of the HRT from 7 to 21 days led to the enhancement of ammonium nitrogen removal but did not affect the COD and total nitrogen removals. This phenomenon is a consequence of leachate’s low biodegradability. The present study shows the importance of the HRT and plant presence for landfill leachate treatment using HF-CTWs.

The production of low-pH effluent with sulfate and metals is one of the biggest environmental concerns in the mining industry. The biological process for sulfate reduction has the potential to become a low-cost solution that enables the recovery of interesting compounds. The present study analyzed such a process in a horizontal-flow anaerobic immobilized biomass (HAIB) reactor, employing ethanol as the carbon and energy source. Results showed that a maximal efficiency in the removal of sulfate and ethanol could only be obtained by reducing the applied sulfate load (225.1 ± 38 g m⁻³ d⁻¹). This strategy led to over 75% of chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sulfate removal. Among the COD/SO₄²⁻ studied ratios, 0.67 showed the most promising performance. The effluent's pH has naturally remained between 6.8 and 7.0 and the complete oxidation of the organic matter has been observed. Corrections of the influent pH or effluent recirculation did not show any significant effect on the COD and sulfate removal efficiency. Species closely related to strains of Clostridium sp. and species of Acidaminobacter hydrogenomorfans and Fusibacter paucivorans that can be related to the process of sulfate reduction were found in the HAIB reactors when the initial pH was 5 and the COD/SO₄²⁻ ratio increased to 1.0.