Transport modelling and monitoring research use for efficiency assessment of vertical barrier surrounding old sanitary landfill

Abstract

Transport modelling and monitoring research use for efficiency assessment of vertical barrier surrounding old sanitary landfill The paper describes the results of numerical modelling of pollution transport and groundwater quality monitoring for the old sanitary landfill where advanced protection system have been introduced. The protection system consists of the vertical bentonite barrier and peripheral leachate drainage. The GMS/FEMWATER numerical program has been used for groundwater flow and transport simulation. The local monitoring program includes chemical analyses of leachates, surface and groundwater as well as groundwater level observations. The modelling and monitoring results were aimed at the assessment of the vertical barrier effectiveness of groundwater protection in landfill surroundings. These analyses were performed for Radiowo landfill located nearby Warsaw. This object has been existing since 1962, and the permission for its exploitation was extended to the end of the year 2009. Remedial works of the landfill has been conducted since 1998 and they includes: the vertical bentonite barrier, the leachates drainage system, the leachate re-circulation system, the mineral cover, the degassing system as well as the regulation of water relations in surroundings. The influence of remedial works on the groundwater quality on landfill surroundings has also been analysed in the paper.