At issue was the cost and treatment of leachate (LEE-chayt) – the liquid that filters to the bottom of the landfill at tens of thousands of gallons per day. Polk County officials have been hauling it to a treatment facility offsite for $2.5 million a year because they were not able to treat it onsite. 

It is a common practice for solid waste departments. As landfills grow, the volume of leachate increases; many Florida counties are seeking cost-effective and sustainable ways to treat their leachate.  

In Polk County, University of Florida researchers have solved the problem.  

A team from UF’s Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment with the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering designed a complex and sustainable wetlands-filtration system that could serve as a model for other counties.