ISTAÇ, the major Metropolitan Municipality of Instanbul processes municipal and industrial waste via landfills and incineration for about 16 million people.
During the processing of waste with a landfill leachate wastewater is being formed. This formation of leachate is caused by condensation processes and rain water entering the landfill. Since leachate contains a lot of organic and inorganic toxic compounds it needs to be collected at the bottom of the landfill to prevent pollution of soil, ground- and/or surface water. Before the leachate is being discharged it needs to be treated to remove toxic components. Due to the complexity leachate treatment is difficult. A proven and feasible technology is treating the leachate with an ultrafiltration Membrane Bioreactor (MBR) followed by nanofiltration.
Pentair was awarded by ISTAÇ’s in 2007 for the construction of two leachate treatment MBR + NF systems. Initially, the treatment plants were designed with a capacity of 2,000 m³/day (European site of Istanbul) and 1,200 m³/day (Anatolian site of Istanbul). In 2012, the Anatolian site was expanded to 2,000 m³/day. The final effluent is discharged to surface water.