Influence of Municipal Solid Waste Leachate on the Geotechnical Properties of Soil

The dumping of municipal solid waste in open grounds poses serious challenges to the ecology, soil and groundwater. This research outlines the influence of leachate on properties (Atterberg limits, compaction characteristics, shear strength and soil's permeability) of a landfill soil site in Achan, Srinagar, India. The characterization of leachate was done by evaluating the physical and chemical parameters of the leachate sample. Subsequently, a mix of soil specimens with leachate concentrations varying from 0 to 20% was employed to test the influence of leachate on the geotechnical properties of soil. Leachate addition reduced Atterberg limits of the contaminated soil. As the leachate concentrations increased, compaction results revealed a decline in dry unit weight and an increase in optimum moisture content. Additionally, an increasing trend in soil shear strength was observed with increased leachate concentrations. Permeability decreased when leachate content increased from 0 to 20%. Moreover, the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis was also performed. The overall results depict that leachate contamination has both positive and negative impacts on studied landfill soil, with dominance of detrimental effects and suggests proper treatment of leachate and engineering design of municipal solid waste landfill site. This investigation is of urgent need as no such study has been carried out so far on this site.