Experimental study on Leachate movement control and treatment using High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) Sheets

Abstract Nowadays, in India, the incidents such as fire, groundwater contamination and emission of methane due to the open dumping of municipal solid wastes have become very common. To overcome these issues and also to reduce the foul smell emanating from the yards due to rain drenching the piles of accumulated wastes, sanitary landfills with proper leachate movement control facilities and recycling of leachates should be adapted. When landfill squanders (Municipal solid waste) debases and downpour washes through the solid wastes, the leachate is formed. The Leachate is a dark fluid containing organic and inorganic chemicals, heavy metals and pathogens. Leachate may permeate through the landfill liners and subsoil, causing contamination of surface water and sub - surface waters, which results to several health hazards. The synthesis of waste changes drastically over the life of the landfill because of the presence of organic and inorganic substances. This paper focuses towards the control of leachate movement in a sanitary landfill and partial treatment of leachate using HDPE (High Density Poly Ethylene) sheets, such that the partially treated leachate meets the standards prescribed for the quality of Irrigation water. In this paper, the characteristics of leachate were studied by filtering it through 1, 2 and 3 layers of HDPE sheets respectively. When analyzed, the characteristics of leachate such as pH, Turbidity, BOD, COD, TSS and TDS shows that the leachate collected from 3 layered HDPE filtration system has better quality than the other two systems and it could be used for irrigation purposes as a tool to ensure sustainability by contributing towards the reduction of water scarcity issue.