Quality assessment of ground water near selected waste dumpsites site at Warri, Nigeria

Abstract

Ground water and leachates samples from three dumpsites located in Warri were studied to assess the impact of solid waste on ground water resources in the area. Ground water samples were collected from holes drilled to depth of 3 meters in all three dumpsites. Leachate samples were
collected from the dumpsite vicinities, while water samples were collected from 17 existing boreholes and eight open hand-dug wells within the study areas. The depth to water table in the study area ranged between 1.5 and 3.0 m. The water samples from all three locations had mild to high iron concentrations (0.01-0.9 mg/L) and mild to high acidity (4.47 – 6.95). The high acidity in almost all water samples is related to products of anaerobic decomposition of waste, while the iron concentration in most samples is higher than WHO limit of 0.1mg/L and could be attributed to the location of such boreholes and wells close to dumpsites. The presence of such dumpsites therefore is a potential source of pollution to the ground water because of shallow depth of water table and the closeness of dumpsites to source of drinking water.

Keywords: Ground water, boreholes, leachates, water table, waste dumpsite