Abstracto

Assessment of Groundwater Quality Around Solid Waste Landfill Area - A Case Study

Chidanand Patil, Shreekant Narayanakar, Arjun Virupakshi

Physical, chemical and bacteriological analyses of water samples from seven bore wells located around landfill site at Turmuri, Belgaum was carried out to ascertain the magnitude of dumpsite pollution on groundwater quality. During the study period, 7 bore wells were selected around the landfill area at a distance of 500, 750 and 1000m. The parameters analyzed during the study period were pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), Total Hardness, Nitrate, Most Probable Number (MPN) and heavy metal such as Lead using standard laboratory procedures. The pH ranged from 6.01 to 7.3 indicating acidic in nature in the month of Feb - March, the three bore wells near landfill i.e. within 500 m. Concentrations of Hardness, TDS, Nitrate and MPN ranged from 0 to 80 mg/L, 49 to 190 mg/L, 4 to 79.89 mg/L and >1600/100ml respectively. The analysis was done for four months from Feb – May. The results showed that within 500 m bore wells were contaminated by E-Coli bacteria, also nitrate concentration is above the permissible level described by WHO and Bureau of Indian Standards for drinking water and pH were acidic in nature. The polluted water requires certain levels of treatment before use. Public enlightenment on waste sorting, adoption of clean technology, using climate change mitigation strategies and the use of sanitary landfill to prevent further contamination of ground water flow are recommended.