Analyses on a high leachate mound in a landfill of municipal solid waste in China

The leachate levels in the landfills in southern China are generally high. Field monitoring was carried out in the Suzhou landfill to investigate the leachate mound. The saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC) of municipal solid waste were measured using samples taken from different depths of the landfill. Field monitoring reveals that a perched leachate mound and a substantial main leachate mound existed in the landfill. The saturated hydraulic conductivities of wastes in shallow, middle and deep depth were measured to be 4.81 × 10^?2, 3.50 × 10^?3 and 3.56 × 10^?4 cm/s, respectively. The results of SWCC tests show that the SWCC curve was steep when matric suction was low, and the shallower the waste the steeper would be the curve. In addition to the field and laboratory tests, an unsaturated–saturated seepage analysis was conducted to simulate the development of the high leachate mound and to calculate the annual leachate production. The simulated volumetric water content in the unsaturated zone was about 40 %, which agreed well with the test result. The calculated leachate mound was consistent with the field measurement. The calculated annual and daily leachate productions were all more reasonable than the results of the HELP model.     

Field-monitored settlement and other behavior of a multi-stage municipal waste landfill, Korea

The behavior of the Gimpo #2 landfill, which is an active landfill and the largest in Korea, is analyzed using field measurement data obtained from various field instruments installed within the landfill. The data included in this analysis are the leachate head within the landfill, waste load data using soil pressure plate and settlement data from settlement plate on the surface of the waste of each stage fill including the settlement of the soft foundation clay soil. Landfill blocks are selected both near the embankment and in the center area of the landfill. The analysis of the field-monitored data showed that the leachate head increase was negligible near the embankment. It was significant in the central block as the waste loads increase and reached 15 m at the fourth stage of waste disposal. The reason that the leachate head is higher in the central block than near the embankment is due to the long drainage path and the loss of gradient of drain pipes. The range of unit weight of the waste converted from the measurement data of earth pressure cell was 0.91–1.24 t/m³ and the average value was 1.05 t/m³. The values reflect well the waste compositions recently buried in GML #2, since from 1998 the waste disposed in GML #2 did not contain food waste. The magnitude of final settlements that occurred in each stage loading of 5 m thickness in the peripheral block was very close to 120 cm. The settlement rate of the waste by dividing the thickness of waste was 24 %. This rate can be divided into 10 % by waste loading and 14 % by waste decomposition. The delay of settlements is recognized in each waste layer for second and third loading in the central block due to the accumulation of leachate within the landfill.     

The determination of present and possible environmental risks in solid waste dumping site,Tunceli, Turkey

Leachate was a major cause of high risk classification. This landfill was set as one with highest possible risk classification due to high vulnerability of private water wells to contamination from leachate flows. The aim of this study is to determine the present and possible environmental risks of the leachate spreading from solid waste dumping site in Tunceli and offer solutions for those determined environmental risks. For this purpose, the characteristics of the leachate were monitored at two station points detected in the solid waste dumping site for 7 months. The characteristics of the leachate were found for pH between 7.9 and 8.7. Oxidation reduction potential (ORP) occurred between ??143 and ??48 mV while conductivity was between 2.8 and 2.6 mS. Total solid matter (TSM) and suspended solid matter (SSM) were between 1000 and 7000 mg/l, 0.2–22.5 mg/l, respectively, while total volatile solids (TVS) occurred between 300 and 1800 mg/l for the two stations. Alkalinity was approximately between 290 and 5210 mg/l, while biological oxygen demand (BOD₅) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) results were 15–606 mg/l and 60–1160 mg/l, respectively, for two stations in all sampling time. In both stations, orthophosphate, ammonium nitrogen, nitrate, sulfate, and chloride analyses stayed between 3.04 and 921.1 mg/l; 0.29–619.36 mg/l; 8.94–135.04 mg/l; 125.9–1360.9 mg/l and 99.9–1249.9 mg/l, respectively, in 6 months. As a result of the characterization studies obtained from the leachate, it was found that the amounts of water entering into the waste mass and the retention period of the water in the mass were very effective in the temporal character change of the leachate. According to the Discharge Standards for Solid Waste Assessment and Disposal Facilities and Discharge to Waste Water Infrastructure Facilities of waste management regulation, the results were found to be risky. Consequently, the site in question needs to be urgently rehabilitated when considering the environmental risks of the leachate spreading from the site.     

Electro-coagulation treatment of raw and autoclaved landfill leachate with aluminum electrodes: case study of Djebel Chakir (Tunisia)

Landfilling is a common practice worldwide for solid waste management. The leachate generated at landfill sites contains various organic and inorganic pollutants while it should be treated properly. In this study, the electrocoagulation (EC) process was recognized for its simplicity and effectiveness which was used for the treatment of leachate from the Djebel Chakir landfill site in northern Tunisia. In addition, we investigated the effect of microorganisms (e.g., bacteria, fungi, spore) on sludge production by the application of autoclaving treatment on raw leachate. The application of low current density (15 mA/cm²) within 2 h of treatment and using Al-Al electrodes revealed significant improvement of performance when autoclaving was applied. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and nitrogen removal increased from 39 to 64% and from 13 to 30%, respectively. The sludge volume was reduced from 40 to 10%, and thus, its handling and disposal costs would be significantly decreased. The energy consumption rate was stable after 40 min of treatment at about 0.8 kWh/kg COD removed. Our study shows that removal of microorganisms by autoclaving prior to the EC process is promising for landfill leachate treatment. However, since autoclaving is far from being practical and cost-effective at full-scale plant, research on coupling EC with an alternative disinfecting process might be of great interest.     

Engineering geological aspects of replacing a solid waste disposal site with a sanitary landfill

The current solid waste disposal site in the Mamak district of Ankara is being engulfed by the growing city. All varieties of solid wastes, including medical wastes, are stored at the present site in an irregular manner. Topographical and geological conditions at Mamak waste site are favorable for constructing a sanitary landfill. Located at the edge of a topographical depression, the site is underlain by the natural hydraulic barriers such as clay and metagreywacke. The terrestrial clay has a permeability of 10⁻⁷ to 10⁻⁸ cm/s and low to moderate values of CEC. The proposed sanitary landfill to replace the present solid waste site has a capacity of storing solid waste over 50 years. The details of base liner, final cover, toe embankment, and drainage of leachate and gas are presented in the paper.     

Hydrogeophysical approach for contamination assessment in NamSon landfill,Hanoi, Vietnam

Self potential (SP) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) methods are used together with the results of groundwater samples hydrogeochemical analysis to assess the impact of the water leak from the landfill garbage site at NamSon located in Northern Hanoi on causing pollution to the surrounding environment and affecting geological structure. Selected survey area covers an area of 180 × 300 m lying in the low land of the NamSon site with a slope ranging about 8 m in direction NW–SE. There are three geophysical measurements lines denoted as T1, T2 and T3. Processing 180 SP data points has allowed to draw maps of equipotential epoch in the two periods in 2015 and 2016. The maps show four zones of SP positive anomalies with maximum amplitudes of about +20 mV where the groundwater flow direction is downward and five zones of SP negative anomalies with minimum values in a range from ?180 to ?260 mV where the groundwater flow direction is upward. Resistivity values of the subsurface layers of soils and rocks have been aquired from 2D inverse model for measuring ERT in March 2015 and March 2016. The results of the ERT allowed to define the low resistivity in the range 15–20 Ωm related to leachate plume from NamSon landfill site. Results of the physico-chemical analysis of groundwater samples from the existing six boreholes show increases in concentration of the measured pollutant parameters indicating contamination of the groundwater as a result of solid waste leachate accumulation. This result is affirmative evidence for the survey results by geophysical technique. The rapid decrease in quality of groundwater over the last year is probably due to the influence of the leachate from the NamSon landfill site.     

Environmental impact and vulnerability of the surface and ground water system from municipal solid waste disposal site: Koshe, Addis Ababa

Geo-environmental assessment and geophysical investigations were carried out over the only functional municipal solid waste disposal site of the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, known locally as Koshe. The accumulated wastes from Koshe have impact on the surrounding human and physical environment since the disposal site was not designed. The study deserves emphasis because the city of Addis Ababa currently obtains a considerable portion of its domestic water supply from a well field developed not much farther from and along a groundwater flow direction in relation to the waste disposal site. It was found out that the leachates from the site contain high concentration of biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, chloride and sulphate besides high concentration of cobalt, nickel and zinc in the surrounding soils. The geophysical results have mapped weak zones and near-vertical discontinuities that could potentially be conduits for the leachate from the wastes into the deep groundwater system. Further, a zone of potential leachate migration from the landfill was identified from the electrical models; the location of this zone is consistent with the predicted direction of groundwater flow across the site. The results further suggested that the open dump site tends to cause increasing amount of pollution on the surrounding soil, surface and ground waters. Furthermore, it was observed that the Koshe waste disposal site has grown beyond its capacity and the poor management of the open dump landfill has reduced the aesthetic value of the surrounding environments. The need to change/relocate the existing waste disposal site to a more suitable and technologically appropriate site is emphasized.     

Tunisian landfill leachate treatment using <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chlorella</Emphasis> sp.: effective factors and microalgae strain performance

The potential of the autoclaved Tunisian landfill leachate treatment using microalgae (Chlorella sp.) cultivation was investigated in this study. Landfill leachate was collected from Borj Chakir landfill, Tunisia. A full factorial experimental design 2² was proposed to study the effects of the incubation time and leachate ratio factors on the organic matter removal expressed in chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammoniacal nitrogen (NH₄─N) and on the biological response of Chlorella sp. expressed by the cell density and chlorophyll content. All experiments were batch runs at ambient temperature (25 ± 2 °C). The Chlorella sp. biomass and chlorophyll a concentrations of 1.2 and 5.32 mg L^?1, respectively, were obtained with 10% leachate spike ratio. The obtained results showed that up to 90% of the ammoniacal nitrogen in landfill leachate was removed in 10% leachate ratio spiked medium with a residual concentration of 40 mg L^?1. The maximum COD removal rate reached 60% within 13 days of incubation time indicating that microalgae consortium was quite effective for treating landfill leachate organic contaminants. Furthermore, with the 10% leachate ratio spiked medium, the maximum lipid productivity was 4.74 mg L^?1 d^?1. The present study provides valuable information for potential adaptation of microalgae culture and its contribution for the treatment of Tunisian landfill leachate.     

Containment landfills: the myth of sustainability

A number of major problems associated with the containment approach to landfill management are highlighted. The fundamental flaw in the strategy is that dry entombment of waste inhibits its degradation, so prolonging the activity of the waste and delaying, possibly for several decades, its stabilisation to an inert state. This, coupled with uncertainties as to the long-term durability of synthetic lining systems, increases the potential, for liner failure at some stage in the future whilst the waste is still active, leading to groundwater pollution by landfill leachate. Clay liners also pose problems as the smectite components of bentonite liners are subject to chemical interaction with landfill leachate, leading to a reduction in their swelling capacity and increase in hydraulic conductivity. Thus, their ability to perform a containment role diminishes with time. More critically, if diffusion rather than advection is the dominant contaminant migration mechanism, then no liner will be completely impermeable to pollutants and the containment strategy becomes untenable.

There are other less obvious problems with the containment strategy. One is the tendency to place total reliance on artificial lining systems and pay little attention to local geological/hydrogeological conditions during selection of landfill sites. Based on the attitude that any site can be engineered for landfilling and that complete protection of groundwater can be effected by lining systems, negative geological characteristics of sites are being ignored. Furthermore, excessive costs in construction and operation of containment landfills necessitate that they are large scale operations (superdumps), with associated transfer facilities and transport costs, all of which add to overall waste management costs. Taken together with unpredictable post-closure maintenance and monitoring costs, possibly over several decades, the economics of the containment strategy becomes unsustainable. Such a high-cost, high-technology approach to landfill leachate management is generally beyond the financial and technological resources of the less wealthy nations, and places severe burdens on their economies. For instance, in third world countries with limited water resources, the need to preserve groundwater quality is paramount, so expensive containment strategies are adopted in the belief that they offer greatest protection to groundwater. A final indictment of the containment strategy is that in delaying degradation of waste, the present generations waste problems will be left for future generations to deal with.

More cost-effective landfill management strategies take advantage of the natural hydrogeological characteristics and attenuation properties of the subsurface. The ‘dilute and disperse’ strategy employs the natural sorption and ion exchange properties of clay minerals, and it has been shown that in appropriate situations it is effective in attenuating landfill leachate and preventing pollution of water resources. Operated at sites with thick clay overburden sequences, using a permeable cap to maximise rainfall infiltration and a leachate collection system to control leachate migration, ‘dilute and disperse’ is a viable leachate management strategy. Hydraulic traps are relatively common hydrogeological situations where groundwater flow is towards the landfill, so effectively suppressing outwards advective flow of leachate. This approach is also best employed with a clay liner, taking advantage of the attenuation properties of clays to combat diffusive flow of contaminants. These strategies are likely to guarantee greater protection of groundwater in the long term.     

Aquifer vulnerability assessment using the DRASTIC model at Russeifa landfill,northeast Jordan

Groundwater is inherently susceptible to contamination from anthropogenic activities and remediation is very difficult and expensive. Prevention of contamination is hence critical in effective groundwater management. In this paper an attempt has been made to assess aquifer vulnerability at the Russeifa solid waste landfill. This disposal site is placed at the most important aquifer in Jordan, which is known as Amman-Wadi Sir (B2/A7). The daily-generated leachate within the landfill is about 160 m³/day and there is no system for collecting and treating this leachate. Therefore, the leachate infiltrates to groundwater and degrades the quality of the groundwater. The area is strongly vulnerable to pollution due to the presence of intensive agricultural activity, the solid waste disposal site and industries. Increasing groundwater demand makes the protection of the aquifer from pollution crucial. Physical and hydrogeological characteristics make the aquifer susceptible to pollution. The vulnerability of groundwater to contamination in the study area was quantified using the DRASTIC model. The DRASTIC model uses the following seven parameters: depth to water, recharge, aquifer media, soil media, topography, impact on vadose zone and hydraulic conductivity. The water level data were measured in the observation wells within the disposal site. The recharge is derived based on precipitation, land use and soil characteristics. The aquifer media was obtained from a geological map of the area. The topography is obtained from the Natural Resources Authority of Jordan, 1:50,000 scale topographic map. The impact on the vadose zone is defined by the soil permeability and depth to water. The hydraulic conductivity was obtained from the field pumping tests. The calculated DRASTIC index number indicates a moderate pollution potential for the study area.     

Deterioration of groundwater quality in the vicinity of an active open-tipping site in West Malaysia

There is an urgent need for characterization of leachate arising from waste disposal to ensure a corresponding effective leachate management policy. Field and laboratory studies have been carried out to investigate the impact of municipal landfill leachate on the underlying groundwater at a site in West Malaysia. The solid waste was disposed of directly onto an unprotected natural soil formation. This situation was made worse by the shallow water table. The hydrochemical composition of groundwater in the vicinity of the site (background) is a dilute mixed cation, bicarbonate water. The high ionic balance error of ~13.5% reveals that the groundwater body underneath the site was a highly contaminated leachate rather than contaminated groundwater. Elevated concentration of chloride (355.48 mg/L), nitrate (10.40 mg/L as NO₃), nitrite (14.59 mg/L), ammoniacal-N (11.61 mg/L), sodium (227.56 mg/L), iron (0.97 mg/L), and lead (0.32 mg/L) measured downgradient indicate that the contamination plume has migrated further away from the site. In most cases, the concentration of these contamination indicators, together with the ranges of sodium percentage (66.3–89.9%) and sodium adsorption ratio (10.1–19.7%), were found to be considerably higher than the limit values of safe water for both domestic and irrigation purposes, respectively.     

Tracing subsurface migration of contaminants from an abandoned municipal landfill

This paper aims at determining of inorganic leachate contamination for a capped unsanitary landfill in the absence of hydrogeological data. The 2D geoelectrical resistivity imaging, soil physicochemical characterization, and surface water analysis were used to determine contamination load and extent of selective heavy metal contamination underneath the landfill. The positions of the contaminated subsoil and groundwater were successfully delineated in terms of low resistivity leachate plumes of <10 Ωm. Leachate migration towards the reach of Kelang River could be clearly identified from the resistivity results and elevated concentrations of Fe in the river downslope toe of the site. Concentration of Fe, Mn, Ca, Na, K, Mg, Cu, Cr, Co, Ni, Zn, and Pb was measured for the subsoil samples collected at the downslope (BKD), upslope (BKU), and the soil-waste interface (BKI), of the landfill. The concentration levels obtained for most of the analyzed heavy metals significantly exceed the normal range in typical municipal solid waste landfill sites. The measured heavy metal contamination load in the subsoil is in the following order Fe ? Mn > Zn > Pb > Cr > Cu. Taking into consideration poor physical and chemical characteristics of the local soil, these metals first seem to be attenuated naturally at near surface then remobilize unavoidably due to the soil acidic environment (pH 4.2-6.18) which in turn, may allow an easy washing of these metals in contact with the shallow groundwater table during the periodic fluctuation of the Kelang River. These heavy metals are believed to have originated from hazardous industrial waste that might have been illegally dumped at the site.     

Assessment of the leachate movement in a sealed landfill using geophysical methods

This paper describes a case study concerning the use of integrated geophysical methods applied to environmental assessment. The study is focused on an old municipal solid waste sealed landfill site, located in Gaeiras, Central Portugal. The problem is related with leachate overproduction in this domestic and industrial waste landfill that became an environmental problem with urgent assessment, so that a solution could be planned. Due to the lack of accurate information regarding the shape, history and development of the landfill, the use of a set of classical geophysical methods was the option, since they are non-invasive and non-destructive. The available area was small, almost restricted to the landfill area. To conduct this assessment, electromagnetic RF-EM and Geonics EM34, spontaneous potential (SP), vertical electrical soundings (VES) and magnetic prospecting surveys were planned to understand the various problems that could be related with the leachate overproduction. The joint use of these classical geophysical methods was targeted to investigate bedrock depth and structure (RF-EM, EM34 and VES), waste and leachate characteristics (EM34 and magnetics) and groundwater flow (SP) in the landfill. Geophysical results were correlated with hydrogeological information, integrated and interpreted, using geographic information system tools. The results obtained were important to understand the geological mechanisms that are responsible for leachate overproduction and to suggest remedial measures.     

Magnetic properties and heavy metal content of sanitary leachate sludge in two landfill sites near Bandung,Indonesia

Magnetic properties and heavy metal content of landfill leachate sludge samples from two municipal solid waste disposal sites near Bandung, West Java, Indonesia, and their correlation with heavy metals are studied in the present work. Leachate was found to be sufficiently magnetic with mass-specific magnetic susceptibility that varies from 64.8 to 349.0 × 10⁻⁸ m³ kg⁻¹. It is, however, less magnetic than the soils around the landfill sites. The magnetic minerals are predominantly pseudo-single domain and multidomain magnetite. Leachate samples from the older but inactive disposal site, Jelekong, are found to be more magnetic than that from Sarimukti, the younger and active site. The enhancement of leachate due to the soil-derived ferrimagnetic particles is possibly the same for both Sarimukti and Jelekong. The fact that strong correlation between magnetic parameters and heavy metals is observed in Jelekong but is absent in Sarimukti suggests that the use of magnetic measurement as a proxy measurement for heavy metal content in leachate is plausible provided that the magnetic susceptibility exceeds certain threshold value. Moreover, the accumulation of magnetic minerals and heavy metals in leachate might depend on the activity and the age of landfill site.     

城市垃圾地质填埋场址的优选方法

城市垃圾地质填埋场的选择涉及到经济,交通运输,地质环境,环境保护等因素,是一项十分复杂的工作。本文以浦东垃圾填埋场最优地段的优选为例,应用层次分析方法,阐明了城市垃圾地质填埋场址的优选方法及其过程。     

Adsorption studies of 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene onto shallow aquifer media at the Luhuagang landfill site in Kaifeng,China

The Luhuagang landfill site (LLS) in Kaifeng, China, lacks liner and leachate collection systems. Thus, leachate generated from the waste dump has contaminated the surrounding subsoil and shallow aquifer with various chemicals, including 1,2,4-Trichlorobenzene (1,2,4-TCB). This paper is a part of a series of studies on adsorption, transport and biodegradation and fate of 1,2,4-TCB in the shallow aquifer beneath LLS. Here, adsorption of 1,2,4-TCB onto silt, fine sand and medium sand aquifer deposits collected at LLS was conducted by performing batch experiments involving four common adsorption kinetic models. The results of the analyses showed that the pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic model provided the best fit for the equilibrium data with a coefficient of determination (R ²) greater than 0.99. Least squares analysis of Henry, Freundlich and Langmuir linearly transformed isotherm models was used to establish the best isotherm for 1,2,4-TCB adsorption onto the three aquifer materials. The Freundlich isotherm provided the best fit for experimental data with R ² > 0.99. The results further suggested that the highest adsorption rate of 1,2,4-TCB (27.55 μg/g) was onto silt deposit, followed by fine sand (21.65 μg/g) and medium sand (14.88 μg/g). This showed that silt layer beneath the LLS was critical for retarding the downward percolation and migration of 1,2,4-TCB into the shallow aquifer systems under the landfill. The findings of the study were adopted as basis for designing the slated transport and biodegradation study of 1,2,4-TCB in aquifer system at LLS.     

下穿填埋场隧道综合超前预报与防控措施研究

深圳坂银通道鸡公山隧道的设计路线下穿了深圳下坪固体废弃物填埋场,由于钻孔分析等前期地质勘察无法在该区域开展,下穿填埋场隧道区段施工存在地质状况不明、填埋场渗滤液及填埋气泄露等风险,现有隧道施工超前预报体系不适用于隧道下穿填埋场引发环境灾害问题。针对该难题,本文基于地震预报法(TGP)、瞬变电磁法(TEM)、超前钻孔、取样化学分析等多种方法,构建了隧道下穿填埋场施工超前地质预报体系,并对下穿填埋场隧道区段的围岩质量和渗滤液、填埋气渗漏情况进行了探测与综合分析。结果表明:(1)综合超前预报方法能够提高隧道前方围岩级别判定准确性;(2)填埋场下方存在联通至隧道施工区域的潜在渗滤液渗流通道,但尚未有渗滤液下渗情况发生,隧道开挖过程也无有毒有害气体逸出;(3)针对渗滤液渗漏风险隧道区段,采取全包防水和提升防渗材料等级等方式,可有效保障隧道施工与运营安全。本文研究成果可为隧道穿越环境风险区域施工的超前预报工作提供参考借鉴。     

Electromagnetic methods to characterize the Savoia di Lucania waste dump (Southern Italy)

The aim of this work is the joint application and integration of non-invasive geoelectrical methods for studying the landfill of Savoia di Lucania (Southern Italy). This landfill for its engineering features and small dimensions (70 m × 30 m × 6 m) represents an optimal test site to assess a geophysical survey protocol for municipal solid waste landfills investigation and monitoring. The landfill of Savoia di Lucania has been built with a reinforced concrete material and coated with a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) liner. Three electrical resistivity tomographies (ERT), two self-potential (SP) map surveys and one induced polarization (IP) section have been performed, both in the surrounding area and inside the waste landfill. The geophysical investigations have well defined some buried boundaries of the landfill basin and localized the leachate accumulation zones inside the dumpsite. Comparison of our results with other engineering and geological investigations could be the key for evaluating the integrity of the HDPE liner. Finally, the joint use of the ERT, IP and SP methods seems to be a promising tool for studying and designing new monitoring systems able to perform a time-lapse analysis of waste landfill geometry and integrity.     

Environmental impact of an urban landfill on a coastal aquifer (El Jadida, Morocco)

The El Jadida landfill is one among many uncontrolled dumping sites in Morocco with no bottom liner. About 150 tons/day of solid wastes from mixed urban and industrial origins are placed directly on the ground. At the site of this landfill, the groundwaters circulate deeply (10–15 m) in the Cenomanian rock (calcareous–marl), which is characterised by an important permeability from cracks. The soil is sand–clay characterized by a weak coefficient of retention.The phreatic water ascends to the bottom of three quarries, which are located within the landfill. These circumstances, along with the lack of a leachate collection system, worsen the risks for a potential deterioration of the aquifer.To evaluate groundwater pollution due to this urban landfill, piezometric level and geochemical analyses have been monitored since 1999 on 60 wells. The landfill leachate has been collected from the three quarries that are located within the landfill. The average results of geochemical analyses show an important polluant charge vehiculed by landfill leachate (chloride = 5680 mg l⁻¹, chemical oxygen demand = 1000 mg l⁻¹, iron = 23 000 μg l⁻¹). They show also an important qualitative degradation of the groundwater, especially in the parts situated in the down gradient area and in direct proximity to the landfill. In these polluted zones, we have observed the following values: higher than 4.5 mS cm⁻¹ in electric conductivity, 1620 and 1000 mg l⁻¹ respectively in chlorides and sulfate (), 15–25 μg l⁻¹ in cadmium, and 60–100 μg l⁻¹ in chromium. These concentrations widely exceed the standard values for potable water.Several determining factors in the evolution of groundwater contamination have been highlighted, such as (1) depth of the water table, (2) permeability of soil and unsaturated zone, (3) effective infiltration, (4) humidity and (5) absence of a system for leachate drainage. So, to reduce the pollution risks of the groundwater, it is necessary to set a system of collection, drainage and treatment of landfill leachates and to emplace an impermeable surface at the site of landfill, in order to limit the infiltration of leachate.