Water budget analysis : a tool to minimize leachate production

• Uncontrolled leakage of polluted leachate from landfills is the largest long-term hazard of environment disturbance from landfills. Large efforts should be made to control the leakage. Depending on the type of waste, different water transport regimes are desirable. For municipal waste with a large fraction of organic matter, high water transport through the landfill is advantageous during landfill operation time. Large water transport benefits biological decomposition and the attendance time can be reduced. For coal and peat ashes that produce leachate where we lack practical applicable methods today to reduce the environmentally hazardous concentrations, the water flux through the deposit has to be small to minimize leachate production from such deposits. For tailings with a large sulphide content, oxidation (producing acid) can be reduced by using a saturated cover-layer. Actions undertaken must be of such sustainability that the landfills then can be left without supervision. Water budget analysis is a useful tool when tailoring water flow through landfills. Effects of location (recharge/discharge area), bottom and top liners, surface drains, capillary barrier and vegetation covers are discussed.

Ämnesord

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Geovetenskap och miljövetenskap -- Geokemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Earth and Related Environmental Sciences -- Geochemistry (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Applied Geology

Tillämpad geologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

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