Location of waste landfills in the aspect of hydrogeological conditions

Abstract

Selecting a site for a landfill should minimise the inevitable ecological effects. The Regulation of the Minister of the Environment (2013) on waste landfills specifies, among others, that it is best to locate a landfill in a place with a natural geological barrier. For landfills other than hazardous and neutral waste, the minimum thickness of the barrier should be ≥1.0 m, and the value of its filtration coefficient k≤1.0·10– 9 m/s. Another criterion for the location of landfills is the expected piezometric table of groundwater, at least 1 m below the level of the planned excavation. In the paper, the last criterion is subjected to a critical analysis based on the results of my own research. It analyses what the piezometric table of groundwater is and what impact it has on the possible penetration of potential pollutants. The considerations are carried out on the example of the ground predicted for a waste landfill, for which tests necessary to determine the hydrogeological conditions were carried out.