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leachate

[ lee-cheyt ]

noun

  1. a solution resulting from leaching, as of soluble constituents from soil, landfill, etc., by downward percolating groundwater:

    Leachates in the town's water supply have been traced to a chemical-waste dump.



leachate

/ ˈliːtʃeɪt /

noun

  1. water that carries salts dissolved out of materials through which it has percolated, esp polluted water from a refuse tip
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of leachate1

First recorded in 1930–35; leach 1 + -ate 2
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Example Sentences

The new study is unusual in that it calculated the mass of microplastics in landfill leachate and wastewater influent and effluent.

While plastics degrade more slowly in landfills due to the compression of waste and the lack of solar radiation once they're buried, the plastics will continue to break down into smaller particles, which will eventually flow out with the leachate, Scott said.

Wastewater treatment plants can take in 10,000 gallons of wastewater per minute but only about 30,000 gallons of landfill leachate per day, Prada said.

Scientists analyzed the liquid waste, or leachate, released by four Illinois landfills and the inflows and outflows of associated wastewater treatment plants to determine the fate of two contaminants: microplastics and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

The analysis revealed that while landfills do a good job of retaining microplastics, their leachate contains high levels of PFAS.

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