Detecting leachate plumes and groundwater pollution at Ruseifa municipal landfill utilizing VLF-EM method

Abstract

A Very Low Frequency-Electromagnetic (VLF-EM) survey was carried out in two sites of domestic waste of old and recent landfills. The landfill structures lie on a major highly fractured limestone aquifer of shallow groundwater less than 30 m, which is considered as the main source of fresh water in Amman–Zarqa region. A total of 18 VLF-EM profiles were conducted with length ranges between 250 and 1500 m. Hydrochemical and biochemical analysis of water samples, taken from wells in the region, has also been conducted. The integrated results of previous DC resistivity method of the same study area and the outcomes of the 2-D tipper inversion of VLF-EM data proved the efficiency of this method in locating shallow and deep leachate plume with resistivity less than 20 Ω m, and enabling the mapping of anomalous bodies and their extensions down to 40 m depth. The sign of groundwater contamination was noticed in many surrounding wells resulting in the high number of fecal coliform bacteria and total coliform bacteria and the increase in inorganic parameters such as chloride (Cl). The pollution of groundwater wells in the landfill area is attributed to the leachate bodies which flow through the upper part of Wadi Es Sir (A7) or Amman–Wadi Es Sir Aquifer (B2/A7). Furthermore, several structural features were detected and the direction of local groundwater movement has been determined. The structural features have been found to have critical effects on the flowing of leachate plume towards north-northeast and west-southwest of the potable aquifer in the area.