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VSEP Case Study – El Presidente, Colombia

Written on February 3, 2015

The city of Buga in Columbia was quickly outgrowing the area used for landfill.  In fact the projection estimated it would reach its capacity within four months.  The regulators told the Buga Landfill that prior to opening another site they needed to be able to provide a method of dealing with the leachate produced from the waste.

A full-scale VSEP system was installed implementing three of the 84″ VSEP modules. This system did not require the second stage spiral RO system as the filtrate is only to be used for irrigation and the first stage removal of ammonia, chemical oxygen demand and other contaminants is sufficient.

Out of the six leachate ponds, the VSEP system is set up 600m from the main pond where the leachate from the landfill is deposited. The leachate is pumped to the VSEP modules and taken away for irrigation to the nearby sagebrush areas. The concentrate is then collected in already used ponds.

The goal for the system is to reduce the leachate volume in each pond and then use them as storage sites for the concentrate produced through the VSEP process. The process is able to extract 150 cubic metres of filtrate each day and eventually plans are in place to double this value.

Through using VSEP, the landfill has been able to extend operations by approximately 20 more years, which will work out to be more cost effective than having to build an entire new landfill and leachate ponds.

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