Assessment of groundwater contamination near Okhla landfill
Student name: Ms Riya Gosain
Guide: Dr Chander Kumar Singh
Year of completion: 2018
Host Organisation: Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Faridabad
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr S K Srivastava
Abstract: Non- engineered landfill sites pose substantial environmental threats and have been reported to impact
air, biodiversity, soil fertility, human health. They have also been identified as one of the major threats
to Groundwater resources. As a result, areas lying in close proximity to these landfills have
Groundwater contamination possibilities because of the leachate originating from these sites
(Nagarajan, et al., 2012).
In order to assess the impact of leachate percolation on the Groundwater quality of the surrounding
area, physico-chemical and heavy metal analysis of leachate and Groundwater (tubewell) samples
collected from a 2km radius around the Okhla sanitary landfill site was done. The results of various
parameters such as TDS, Total hardness, COD, cations, anions and heavy metals exceeded the BIS
limits depicting, that contaminants from the landfill site have made their way into the Groundwater,
adversely affecting the Groundwater quality of the vicinal area, despite the existing quartzitic
geological setup and deep aquifers. Eventually, a Groundwater flow and particle tracking model was
developed to study the extent and transport trend of the contaminants in space and time. The direction
of Groundwater flow in the area depicts the possible path of contaminants under advective mechanism.
The report also evaluates the suitability of Groundwater for drinking and other domestic purposes
based on water quality index and its facies. In order to caution the general residents of the area and
to prevent potential human health hazards by consumption of polluted well waters; various
contamination hotspots have been identified in the study area. Along with the conclusion, the study
limitations, future scopes and recommendation have also been mentioned.
Keywords: Landfill, Leachate, Groundwater Quality, Model, Health
