Abstract
Aim of the study. Landfilling is an activity, which may threaten the destruction or contamination of the soil and water environment. Pollution can be generated both by leachate and by landfill gas. Legal conditions impose on landfill managers to monitor groundwater around the landfills. The impacted soils and groundwater show high chlorides, sulphates, heavy metal concentrations especially as compared to natural hydrochemical background values. Monitoring results can be analyzed using pollution indicators. The objective of this study was to determine the quality of groundwater in a landfill in Wojkowice (southern Poland) using the Backman index. Material and methods. The novelty of the paper results from the use of a different range of parameters than initially included in the formula. The results of water quality monitoring for three piezometers from 2013–2020 were considered. The contamination index was calculated separately for each of the analysed water samples, taking into account the electrolytic conductivity and the concentration of total organic carbon (TOC), Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cr and the sum of N-NO3, N-NO2 and N-NH4. Results and conclusions. The Backman index values range in the groundwater samples were –5.3 to 603. The value of the Backman index increases with the increase in the concentration of individual parameters in groundwater. In the case of heavily transformed areas, the water pollution index has high values, exceeding 3. The results of this index indicated that the quality of the groundwater around the landfill is bad. In the future, it is planned to expand the range of parameters for calculating the index.
Highlights
Landfilling is the most popular method for waste disposal (Vaverková and Adamcová, 2015; Dąbrowska et al, 2018a; Dąbrowska et al, 2018b)
The aim of this paper is to identify the changes in the physical and chemical parameters of groundwater because of values of the Backman index for three piezometers belonging to the monitoring network of the municipal landfill in Wojkowice in 2013–2020
On the basis of the groundwater monitoring results obtained in the area of the landfill in P1 piezometer, it can be concluded that all parameters indicate a good chemical status
Summary
Landfilling is the most popular method for waste disposal (Vaverková and Adamcová, 2015; Dąbrowska et al, 2018a; Dąbrowska et al, 2018b). Due to the lack of a liner system, many landfills have been closed, but the fact that they are still in operation is not synonymous with the environmental risk they still pose (Mor et al, 2018). This is related to the migration of pollutants from leachate, which are Karkocha, R. DOI: generated because of the infiltration of precipitation into the landfill body (Elbl, et al, 2015; Sołtysiak and Dąbrowska, 2016; Minelgaitė and Liobikienė, 2019)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
