Evaluation of leachate contamination potential of municipal solid waste dumpsites in Sri Lanka using leachate pollution index.

Abstract

Landfill leachate generated pollutes the underlined groundwater and nearby surface water bodies due to the unlined and unmanaged dumpsites. Leachate pollution index (LPI) can be used to quantify and compare the leachate contamination potential of a particular landfill site at a given time. A study is conducted to evaluate the contamination potentials of ten municipal solid waste dumpsites from different locations in Sri Lanka, based on sub-indices of LPI and the overall LPI. Organic and inorganic pollutants and heavy metals are analyzed in leachate. The highest LPIor and LPIhm of 91.5 and 10.12, respectively resulted from the Kolonnawa dumpsite. However, the highest LPIin of 65.4 is resulted in leachate from Bandaragama. Further, the overall LPI is the highest in leachate from Kolonnawa dumpsite followed by Bandaragama and Rathnapura sites. Accordingly, Kolonnawa landfill leachate is polluted with organic pollutants and heavy metals and it has the highest potential of pollution. The leachate from Bandaragama site has the highest pollution potential of inorganic pollutants.