A Study on the Landfill Leachate and Its Impact on Groundwater Quality of Ghazipur Area, New Delhi, India

Municipal solid waste disposal in a non-engineered landfill is one of the serious threats to groundwater quality deterioration. In fact, the leachate generated from landfill percolates the strata and reaches to aquifer causing groundwater contamination. The paper aims to analyze the characteristics of landfill leachate along with groundwater quality at various locations in the vicinity for some selected parameters. The grab samples of leachate and groundwater sample have been collected and analyzed as per standard procedure. All the parameters except the pH and electrical conductivity have been observed to be more than the typical values of municipal wastewater. In groundwater, the pH, coliform bacteria and nitrate content have been found to be within the permissible limit at all locations, however, rest of the parameters exceeded the permissible limit. This may happen because of the percolation of leachate through strata. The influence of leachate on groundwater decreases drastically with an increase in distance from landfill site. Maximum contamination has been observed in north and northwestern areas of landfill, especially, at locations GW4 and GW5. The groundwater quality in vicinity of landfill site revealed the unsuitability for both household and commercial uses.