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Kootenai County to start Dynatech leachate-treatment pilot to address PFAS concerns
Summary
Solid Waste Director John Phillips said a Dynatech pilot system will be started at Fighting Creek Landfill after bench testing showed promise; startup and staff training are scheduled and treated effluent will be sent to a regional POTW if it meets discharge standards.
John Phillips, Kootenai County Solid Waste director, told county commissioners on April 1 that the department will start up a Dynatech pilot system to treat landfill leachate after a bench-scale test showed promising results.
The pilot follows notice in late 2022 that the regional publicly owned treatment works (POTW) would not continue accepting the county's untreated excess leachate unless constituents such as PFAS, total dissolved solids and potential PCBs were removed. "We ended up selecting a company called Dynatech out in New Jersey who arguably has more treatment experience than anybody in the country, with treating things like PFAS," Phillips said during the quarterly solid waste update.
Why it matters: Landfill leachate is wastewater that can contain a mix of industrial and household contaminants. Without on-site treatment to remove regulated constituents, the county’s wastewater would be rejected by regional treatment plants, forcing the solid waste department to find alternative disposal routes or treatment options.
What Phillips reported: - A Dynatech bench-scale treatability test of Fighting Creek Landfill leachate appeared successful, and a purchase order for a full pilot system was issued in May 2024. - Supply-chain delays pushed delivery of the full pilot into winter; the county built a lined pad and purchased insulated shipping containers to protect reverse-osmosis membranes and other equipment from freezing. - Electrical and plumbing connections for the pilot are in place. A Dynatech representative is scheduled to assist with startup and train county staff on operation. - "Once everything's working well, and the effluent quality meets [regional POTW] standards, we're gonna begin hauling that treated wastewater" to the regional plant, Phillips said.
Details and next steps: Phillips said the pilot was delivered late because of supply-chain issues and that staff will not begin hauling treated effluent to the POTW until the pilot meets the plant’s acceptance criteria. He described the system as reverse-osmosis–based and housed in insulated containers to protect sensitive components during winter operation. Training of county personnel by the vendor is planned at startup.
What remains unclear from the meeting: Phillips did not provide specific target effluent concentrations, the name of the receiving POTW, nor an operational schedule beyond "this month" for vendor start-up and staff training. The county has not yet reported a timeline for evaluating pilot results or the criteria it will use to decide on permanent treatment procurement.
Direction: Phillips said staff will proceed with startup and training and will begin hauling treated effluent to the regional POTW only if effluent meets that plant’s standards; he did not state a formal timeline for a decision about a permanent system.
Ending: Commissioners did not take a formal vote on the pilot during the update; Phillips said he would return with additional information as the pilot progresses.
