Abstract
The development of a low cost and environmentally friendly liner system is essential for countries like Sri Lanka because the high-density polyethylene liner is of high cost and much more prone to toxic conditions and failures. This research was carried out at Sammanthurai by using clay-waste polyethylene-clay composite liner and permeability tests were conducted that gave values between 6.3 x 10<sup>-8</sup> and 2.6 x 10<sup>-8</sup> cm sec<sup>-1</sup> under both saturated and unsaturated conditions at the hydraulic head of 86.2 cm. These low permeability values were achieved by laying and compacting one layer after another at the required soil consistency to make a composite liner system. In addition, the use of waste polyethylene based composite liner is more beneficial than the high density polyethylene liner because this waste polyethylene makes an active biofilter which is cheaper and environmentally friendly. The ground penetrating radar survey shows that the confined bedrock is 0.5 to 6.0 m and the water table is 0.4 to 0.5 m from the surface during the rainy season. Therefore, permeate from the liner system will accumulate in the drainage layer above the confined bedrock and that can lead to embankment failure. It is then very important to install a collection and management system to accommodate permeates that were 3.51 x 10<sup>-2</sup> cm sec<sup>-1</sup> and 3.86 x 10<sup>-2</sup> cm<sup>3</sup> sec<sup>-1</sup> under saturated and unsaturated conditions, respectively. The ‘water permeates’ will be reused, thus, overcoming the lack of available water in the dry zone of Sri Lanka for managing wastes as a resource. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/tar.v21i3.3300 TAR 2010; 21(3): 266-274
Highlights
Landfills have been widely used for municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal all over the world
Several Common Mid Point (CMP) surveys were conducted in estimating the average Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) wave velocity (Galagedara et al, 2003) which is needed to estimate the exact depth to the bed rock and/or water table
The liner system above this rock is an important factor to be considered in the design
Summary
Landfills have been widely used for municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal all over the world. In developing countries, it is considered as a reliable and a cost effective method if adequate land is available. The positive aspect of additional cost of collection is the reuse of precious water needed for proper function of a landfill bioreactor under very dry conditions in the east coast of Sri Lanka. A higher rate of liquid application can enhance the biological degradation in relation to landfill stabilization and gas productions, a comprehensive understanding of hydrological performances of a bioreactor is more crucial since all these processes are mostly related to each other (Yuen et al, 2001). In considering hydrological parameters with other factors, the High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) liner is identified as one of the constraints due to building up of inorganic compounds and lately, breaching of liner has become a crucial issue
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