International Journal of Advanced in Management, Technology and Engineering Sciences ISSN NO : 2249-7455

CHARACTERIZATION OF LEACHATE FROM MUNICIPAL SOLID

WASTES LANDFILL SITE OF ITANAGAR, ARUNACHAL PRADESH
MRS. MUDO PUMINGa*, DR. AJAY BHARTIb, DR. MONOWAR HUSSAINc
a
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, NERIST, Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh, India.
Email: mamungm@yahoo.com (corresponding author)
b
Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, NERIST, Nirjuli, Arunachal Pradesh, India.
Email: ajaybharti123@rediffmail.com
c
Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, NIT, Silchar, Assam, India.
Email: monowarhussain@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is one of the major environmental problems of Indian cities mainly due to rapid growth of
urbanization and industrialization. Various studies reveal that about 90% of solid waste is disposed of unscientifically in open dumps and
landfills. Pollutant can escape from improperly designed landfill in variety of ways. If soil above or below a landfill or dumpsite is permeable,
leachate can escape to contaminate groundwater and surface water. Therefore, in this paper an attempt is made to characterize the leachate
produced by municipal solid waste dumping site of Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh which is located at 27 6 0 N, 93 37 12 E, on the foothills
of Himalayas. Around 20 parameters of leachate were determined during this study. The leachate samples were characterized by collecting nine
samples, collected from three different sites located at the bottom of landfill at a distance of 7 m apart. It is found that all the leachate samples
show an acidic pH value ranging from 6.2-6.91. Conductivity and Total Dissolved Solids of all the samples ranged from 535-1938 S/cm and
508-1300 ppm respectively. Similarly dissolved ions in the leachate sample like Chloride, Calcium, Sodium, Nitrate and Potassium were
observed. Most of the ions were found to be beyond the permissible limit as per the standards. Heavy metals concentrations are low whereas
concentration of iron is high having maximum value of 11.02 mg/L. The present study concludes that characterization of landfill leachate is
important to identify the most critical pollutants present in the leachate and thereby to introduce suitable and applicable technologies such as in-
situ impermeable barriers etc.

Keywords: Solid waste, landfill leachate, leachate characteristics, open dumping

1. INTRODUCTION
Municipal solid waste (MSW) management is one of the major environmental problems of Indian cities. Increased rate of generation of huge
amount of MSW are the results of rapid population growth and urbanization in developing countries. The dumping of solid waste in open is a
very common practice of solid waste management. The quantum of MSW generated in India is about 0.15 million tonnes per day. Out of the
total municipal waste collected, on an average 94% is dumped on land and only 5% is composted. The average rate of MSW generation in India
is 0.35 to 0.60 kg/person/day (Rathod. M., et al., 2013). The dumping of solid waste in open or waste landfilling continues to be the most
common and economical method of disposal of MSW due to the higher capacity of landfills at lower cost than other waste management
techniques. After waste is disposed of at landfills, it undergoes a number of physical, chemical and microbiological changes. Leachate is a
contaminated liquid emanating from the bottom of the solid waste and contains soluble organic and inorganic compounds as well as suspended
particles. Leachate may percolate through landfill liners and subsoil causing pollution of surface water and ground water resources (Peter. K., et
al., 2002). The risk of ground water pollution is probably the most severe environmental impact from landfills because historically most landfills
were built without engineered liners and leachate collection and treatment systems. Leachates generated in the initial period of waste deposition
(up to 5 years) on landfills have pH 3.7-6.5 that reflects the presence of carboxylic acids and bicarbonate ions. With time the leachates become
neutral or weakly alkaline (pH 7.0-7.6). Landfill leachate consists of organic matter (biodegradable and non-biodegradable), inorganic pollutants
and hazardous substances (Umar. M., et al., 2010). Landfill leachate characterization is necessary to have a proper treatment facility since the
composition of landfill leachate is varied from site to site. The composition of landfill leachate varies from time to time and site to site due to the
differences in waste composition, amount of precipitation, moisture content, climatic changes, site hydrology, waste compaction, interaction of
leachate with the environment etc. (Umar. M., et al., 2010). It is observed that composition of leachate is highly dependent on the degradation
stage (Peter. K., et al., 2002) of the waste.

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sampling location: The study area Itanagar is located at 27 6 0 N, 93 37 12 E, on the foothills of Himalayas. Total quantity of MSW
dumped annually in this landfill site is 9,690.39 tonne (Bagra. K., et al., 2014). The leachate samples were characterized by collecting nine
samples, collected from three different site at the bottom of landfill at a distance of 7 m on monthly interval i.e. October, November and
December.

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International Journal of Advanced in Management, Technology and Engineering Sciences ISSN NO : 2249-7455

In Table No.1 the list of different instruments used to identify different parameters of leachate are shown below.

Table 1 Instruments used to identify different parameters of leachate

Parameter Instrument used to identify the parameters

pH pH meter
Conductivity , S/cm Conductivity Meter
Total Dissolved Solid, ppm TDS Meter
Biological Oxygen Demand, mg/L Winkler's Method
Chemical Oxygen Demand, mg/L Closed Reflux Titrimetric and Colorimetric Method using COD
Digester
Chloride, mg/L Argentometric Method
Calcium, mg/L Flame Photometer
Sodium, mg/L Flame Photometer
Potassium, mg/L Flame Photometer
Sulphate, mg/L Turbidimetric method
Nitrate, mg/L UV Spectrophotometer
Total Phosphorus, mg/L Spectrophotometer
Heavy metals Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

Sample Collection and Preservation: Collection of leachate sample was done according to the standard procedure. Glass bottles were used to
collect leachate samples for chemical analyses, whereas, samples preserved for BOD and COD tests were collected in polyethylene bottles
covered with aluminum foils (Naveen, B.P., et al., 2014). A few drops of concentrated nitric acid were added to the leachate sample collected for
heavy metals analysis to preserve the samples. The samples were then transported in cooler boxes at temperature below 5oC, and transported
immediately to the laboratory. The sample of leachate were stored in refrigerator at 4oC before proceeding for the analysis. The analysis is
carried out according to standard methods for examination of water and waste water.

In Table No.2 the characteristics of leachate obtained from Chimpu landfill site is shown. The different values of pollutants obtained from the
leachate sample of three different sites are tabulated. The observed values are compared with the desirable limit for drinking water as per IS
10500-2012. From Table No.2 it is observed that most of the parameters of leachate are exceeding the desirable limit and hence it indicates that
there is potential of contamination of nearby water sources due to release of leachate from the landfill site.

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International Journal of Advanced in Management, Technology and Engineering Sciences ISSN NO : 2249-7455

3. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

pH

All the leachate samples show an acidic pH value (6.2-6.91) which indicate medium (5-10 years) landfill in age (Ahmed. K., 2008). The pH of
landfill leachate increases with the age of the landfill due to the biological decomposition of organic nitrogen into ammonium nitrogen. The
variation in the pH were likely to be caused by number of factors such as rain water infiltration and dilution effects.

Conductivity and Total dissolved solids

These parameters are generally influenced by the total amount of dissolved organic and inorganic materials present in the leachate, and are used
to indicate the degree of salinity and mineral contents of the sample. The salt content in the leachate is due to the presence of potassium, sodium,
chloride, nitrate, sulphate and ammonia salts. The leachate sample has Conductivity and Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) value of 535 to 1938
S/cm and 567 to 1300 ppm respectively. The Conductivity and TDS value of most of the sites during different months indicates that it exceeds
the IS 10500 recommended acceptable range.

Major Anions

The level of inorganic elements present in leachate is dependent mainly on the ease of leaching the inorganic constituents present in the MSW
materials and the stabilization process in the landfill. In this study the leachate sample was found to have high concentrations of all major anions
like chlorides, nitrates and sulphates. The concentration of chlorides (upto 376.68 mg/L) is highest, while nitrate concentration (upto 8.1 mg/L)
is highest. The high chloride content in the leachate sample reflects the presence of soluble salts in the study area. Sulphate in the landfill
leachate is mainly due to decomposition of organic matter, soluble waste such as construction waste or ash, synthetic detergents and inert waste.
Nitrates represent the most oxidized form of nitrogen found in natural system. It indicates domestic and agricultural pollution. The range of
sulphate and nitrate was found to be 210.50 to 330 mg/L and 0 to 8.1 mg/L respectively. It was found that the value of chloride and sulphate was
exceeding the permissible limits in most of the sites.

Major Cations

The constituents calcium, sodium and potassium are generally the major cations present in leachate. The range of calcium, sodium and
potassium were found to be 73.53-98.77 mg/L, 210.84-265.76 mg/L and 203.05-224.14 mg/L respectively. The concentration of these cations in
leachate is specific to the composition of the waste and the prevailing phase of stabilization in the landfill. Calcium, sodium and potassium were
present at considerably high concentration during this study.

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International Journal of Advanced in Management, Technology and Engineering Sciences ISSN NO : 2249-7455

These ions are most likely derived from vegetable residues and domestic wastes. Potassium can have adverse effects from exposure to increased
potassium in drinking water. It can cause diseases like kidney failure, heart disease, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes. Sodium is an
essential nutrient and adequate levels of sodium are required for good health but excess of it can also cause problems like hypertension. Calcium
in addition with magnesium is one main cations that can cause hardness of water.

Total Phosphorus

There is no set value of Phosphorus as per IS 10500 standards. Phosphorus transported from leachate to water sources can cause eutrophication
which is one of the main water quality issues in lakes and reservoirs. The value of Phosphorus obtained in this study ranges between (0 to 6.79
mg/L).

Indication from BOD and COD values

The BOD/COD ratio indicates the age of the waste fill (Hui T.S., 2005). Biodegradability of wastes can be measured by the ratio of BOD5/COD.
In this study, the ratio of BOD5/COD varies from (0-0.3), which indicates that the age of the landfill is Medium (5-10 years).

Heavy metals
Heavy metals appear in the leachate mainly due to waste materials like batteries, consumer electronics, light bulbs, plastics, lead foils etc. This
waste materials introduce metal contaminants into the solid waste stream. In this study lead, nickel, cromium and cadmium were below detection
level, zinc and copper were present in traces, arsenic was nil and iron (upto 11.02 mg/L) was found to exceed the permissible limit. The low
value of heavy metals in the leachate indicates that the waste in the landfill site is domestic in nature.

4. CONCLUSION
The dumping site at Chimpu (Itanagar) is a non-engineered open dumps. They have neither any bottom liner nor any leachate
collection and treatment system. Therefore all the leachate generated find its path into the surrounding environment.
Leachate samples of the site was collected and analyzed for various physico-chemical parameters to find its pollution potential. It is
concluded that leachate sample contains some constituents that is beyond the permissible limits. The leachate samples would need
appropriate treatment plan to reduce the pollutants to minimum level before it is discharged.
Engineered landfill sites should be provided with impermeable liner and drainage system at the base of the landfill, so that leachate
does not percolate into subsoil.
The present study concludes that characterization of landfill leachate of Chimpu (Itanagar) is important to identify the most critical
pollutants present in the leachate.

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