Figure 39. Cross-section showing leaching from an improperly designed 

 sanitary landfill (Source: Reference 123). 



areas of shallow water table, where refuse is 

 groundwater, leaching is a continual process, 

 for groundwater pollution [123]. 



in constant contact with the 

 producing maximum potential 



Wetlands : Wetlands disposal once seemed logical because such space 

 was cheap, available, and normally thought of as "wasteland". This 

 attitude has since changed, however, because of the recognition of 

 marshes, bogs, swamps, and other wetlands as vital habitats essential 

 to the proper functioning of natural water systems. 



In addition to their direct loss from filling with solid wastes, 

 wetland and lower floodplain dump sites have high potentials for causing 

 water pollution. In wetlands there is a high rate of leaching of toxic 

 chemicals, nutrient chemicals, and suspended organic matter from the town 

 dump into the groundwater, as well as washoff of the same pollutants 

 during rainstorms and flooding. 



4.13.3 Design and Maintenance 



Modern engineering techniques allow the control of both leachate 

 production and its movement away from the landfill site. This is 

 accomplished by reducing the amount of surface water and groundwater 

 entering the fill area to the minimum and controlling the leachate runoff 



157 



