Background: leachate from landfill contains high level of microbial pathogens which is considered as one of the most important threats for the environment. One of the common and simple methods for water and wastewater disinfection is chlorination, but it rarely has been used for leachate disinfection. The objective of this study was evaluating the efficiency of chlorine for leachate disinfection and optimization of the effect of concentration and contact time on the death of total and fecal coliforms, as a microbial contamination index.

Methods: In this descriptive-analysis study, microbial indices monitoring in leachates initiated from landfill of Qazvin city were conducted for one year. After pre-tests, the range of chlorine concentration and contact time on the inactivation of microbial indices were determined. Central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) were applied to optimize chlorine concentration and contact time parameters effect on microbial inactivation. 13 runs of tests were performed on samples. Tests were included BOD, COD, total and fecal coliforms. All analytical experiments were according to the standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater.

Results: Results of the study showed that microbial indices had relatively high sensitivity to inactivation by chlorination, which in the chlorine concentration of 2 mg/L and contact time of 9 min, and chlorine concentration of 0.5 mg/L and contact time of 12 min, 100% of total and fecal coliforms inactivated, respectively. The RSM method was used for analysis of bacterial inactivation. Analyses showed that in contact time of 9.4 min and chlorine concentration of 2.99 mg/L, the inactivation efficiency of total and fecal coliforms were 89.16% and 100%, respectively.

Conclusions: Chlorine could be used for leachate disinfection. However, in high concentrations of organic matter in leachates, due to production potential of chlorination by-products, health and environmental consideration must be considered in choosing chlorine as a disinfectant.