Impact of leachate on groundwater pollution due to non-engineered municipal solid waste landfill sites of erode city, Tamil Nadu, India

Leachate and groundwater samples were collected from vendipalayam, semur and vairapalayam landfill sites inerode city, tamil nadu, india, to study the possible impact of leachate percolation on groundwater quality.concentrations of various physicochemical parameters including heavy metals (cd, cr, cu, fe, ni, pb, fe and zn)were determined in leachate samples and are reported. the concentrations of cl-, no3 - , so42-, nh4+ were found to bein considerable levels in the groundwater samples particularly near to the landfill sites, likely indicating thatgroundwater quality is being significantly affected by leachate percolation. further they were proved to be thetracers for groundwater contamination near semur and vendipalayam dumpyards. the presence of contaminants ingroundwater particularly near the landfill sites warns its quality and thus renders the associated aquifer unreliablefor domestic water supply and other uses. although some remedial measures are suggested to reduce furthergroundwater contamination via leachate percolation, the present study demands for the proper management ofwaste in erode city.