International report: The impact of industrial waste landfill on drinking water in Poland

Abstract

This report presents the state of industrial waste landfills in Poland. It analyses the contamination of groundwater with industrial wastes at a site belonging to a metallurgical factory located in the Kielce province (central region of Poland). In landfill leachates, there exists a considerable amount of toxic substances like phenols, formaldehyde, cyanides, detergents and others which, due to improper bedding tightness, seri ously threatens groundwater, including the drinking water intake for the City of Konskie (located 3 km from the land fill). Toxic substances are washed-out from wastes with rain water and, because of unfavourable geological structure, per colate into the Quaternary and then the Jurassic level. In order to prevent water intake contamination, it is necessary to keep the quantity of water extracted to a reduced level.