Bethlehem Landfill Removes PFAS to Protect Water and the Community

Bethlehem Landfill is a 201-acre municipal landfill located one hour northwest of Philadelphia, servicing Northampton, Lehigh, Bucks, Berks and Montgomery counties. Located in an area filled with natural beauty, Bethlehem is committed to protecting the environment and focusing on groundwater remediation to ensure clean drinking water for the local community.

In keeping with their corporate mission of Safety, Integrity and Service, Bethlehem prides itself on being ahead of the curve when it comes to meeting - and exceeding - environmental compliance requirements.

Bethlehem Landfill Company Stats:

●            Design: Double-layer, composite liner system, with mechanically stabilized earth wall

●            Approved to accept 1,375 tons / day of municipal solid waste

●            Generates 50-70k gallons per day of leachate

●            Discharges to the City of Bethlehem

The Situation

Recognizing the increasing risk of PFAS contamination in their leachate, Bethlehem Landfill’s parent company, Waste Connections, began evaluating potential treatment technologies in advance of potential federal and state regulations with the engineering team reviewing a number of technologies for treating PFAS in landfill leachate.

They invited The Water & Carbon Group to perform an on-site demonstration of the LEEF System®, which leverages industry leading foam fractionation technology. The treatability study of the leachate produced impressive results, removing key PFAS contaminants to below the limits of detection.

The Solution

Bethlehem Landfill selected the LEEF System, making it the first operational fixed-plant installation in the U.S. to remove PFAS from raw leachate. The Water & Carbon Group has the world's longest running system in Darwin, Australia.

“Our partnership with The Water & Carbon Group is an integral part of our sustainability objectives and our commitment to improving the environment,” said Astor Lawson, District Manager. “In one short month, the LEEF System® is already surpassing our expectations, with early results showing the removal of target PFAS contaminants to the limit of detection.”

The LEEF System’s performance is exceptional. Now that PFAS is intercepted, Bethlehem Landfill can confidently discharge leachate, well below the US EPA limits for drinking water. 

How the LEEF System Works

The LEEF System process leverages the natural affinity of surface-active molecules, like PFAS, to congregate at air-water interfaces. By injecting millions of air bubbles into the leachate, the LEEF System generates a PFAS-laden foam that can be collapsed and then sequestered or permanently destroyed. The primary leachate flow is depleted of PFAS and is discharged to the City of Bethlehem sanitary sewer system.

In addition, the LEEF System uses less energy than other options, requires no pre-treatment or consumables and produces a lower volume of residuals than alternative technologies. It also works well on untreated leachate as well as RO reject for effective PFAS removal.

Foam fractionation, which has been successfully used for decades in other applications, is applied in a unique way with the LEEF System to remove 100% of targeted PFAS compounds in a short period of time. It does this by taking advantage of the way that per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances attach to air bubbles to effectively allow them to be skimmed off and removed.

The Water & Carbon Group’s fully customized approach is designed to fit a range of needs across the board, from space and capacity requirements to financing for systems based on treatable volumes from 1,000 gallons per day (GPD) to 500,000 GPD.