Subsurface Micro-Environments Around a Municipality Solid Waste Disposal Site of Northern India – Oxic-suboxic Transitions, Groundwater-Aquifer Processes and Trace Metal Behaviour
摘要
Surface disposal of unprocessed urban solid wastes liberates large volume of greenhouse gases to atmosphere and deteriorates groundwater quality severely. This study has examined geochemistry of groundwater collected up to 250 ft. from bore wells, tube wells and dug wells. Slight alkalinity (pH = 7.4–8.1) with greater salinity (0.2–0.6 g L−1), dissolved solids (TDS- 310–830 mg L−1), hardness (TH- 63–429 mg L−1 CaCO3) and conductivity (EC- 443–1186 µS cm−1) characterize the groundwater. Calcium and HCO3− are the predominant ions at all depths that results a CaHCO3 water type. Groundwater nearer to the waste disposal site and shallow depths (< 150 ft.) are of poor to unfit water quality for drinking use. No evidences of their hazard for irrigation use are found at all depths. Prominent evaporation is inferred for shallow aquifers and cation exchange process partly governed the Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ distribution. Silicate weathering has majorly controlled the hydrogeochemistry together with moderate contributions from carbonate dissolution. A complete reducing environment is not envisaged, rather the redox interface for individual redox pair shift downward in order of S < N < Fe and inversely correlated with abundances of respective oxidized species, i.e., SO42− > NO3− > Fe3+. Although all measured trace metals are within permissible limit, groundwater of < 150 ft. and nearer to the dump yard are relatively enriched with higher pollution indices in consistent with ionic behavior.