Assessment of groundwater quality due to municipal solid waste landfills leachate

Abstract

Landfills are one of the groundwater pollution sources in Gaza Strip. This study focuses on two landfills operating in Gaza Strip; the first is Dear Al Balah landfill which has a lining system and the second Gaza landfill which does not have lining system. The objective of this study was assessment degree of groundwater pollution around the two landfills due to percolated leachate from the two landfills. Groundwater samples from 18 water wells located downstream of landfills in addition to two leachate samples were collected during dry season in November 2008 to study possible impact of leachate percolation into groundwater. Several physical and chemical parameters were tested in groundwater and leachate samples, these include temperature, pH and EC, NO3, NH4, Cl, S04, BOD, COD, TOC, Pb, Fe, Cu, Cd, Zn. The Geographic Information System (GIS) was used as a tool to illustrate spatial distribution of the pollutant indicators around both landfills in the periods 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2008, respectively. The results showed that most of wells were contaminated, where concentration of most physical and chemical parameters were above acceptable standard levels for potable or irrigation water. It is quite evident that landfills present potential threats to the surrounding environment. © 2011 Asian Network for Scientific Information.