ECOLOGICAL STUDY ON GROUND WATER POLLUTION AROUND IBB LANDFILL USING PHY SICOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

Landfill is still the suitable way for collecting municipal solid waste (MSW). It is one of the sources of water pollution due to high concentration of toxic substances of leachate generation. A study of composition of groundwater was conducted at Ibb landfill, which is located at Al-Sahool area, north of Ibb City, Yemen. The groundwater in the vicinity of Al-Sahool area is used for drinkig water and irrigation purpose. The aim of this paper is to determine the extension of leachate towards downstream boreholes at this area. Groundwater samples were collected from seven different boreholes. The physico-chemical characteristic of groundwater, such as major anions and nitrogenous compound fluoride (F), chloride (Cl), sulphate (SO4), nitrites (NO2), nitrates (NO3), ammonia-N (NH3-N), major cations (Na, Mg, Ca, K, Fe) and heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Ni, Cr, Cd, Cu) were analyzed in the laboratory. Also, pH, temperature, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS) were measured in-situ. Our results revealed that, the groundwater near the landfill BH1, BH2 and BH3 was not potable and not suitable for drinking water, since most of the physical and chemical parameters examined such as TDS, Cl, NO2, NH3-N, Ca, Mg and T.H exceeded the permissible limits given by Yemen's Ministry of Water and Environment. On the contrary, boreholes which located far way from landfill were suitable for drinking water which was not affected by leachate
migration. Therefore, the current study suggests building sanitary landfill to prevent further ecological contamination and keep public health more save.