GROUNDWATER PROTECTION IN THE UK - ASSESSMENT OF THE LANDFILL LEACHATE SOURCE-TERM

The EC Directive on the protection of groundwater against pollution caused by certain dangerous substances(1) has probably had a greater impact on landfilling in the UK than any other EC legislation. The potential impact of landfilling on groundwater quality ranks highly in any risk assessment of landfill operations. A project for the Department of the Environment is under way to compile a database of landfill leachate quality under a variety of conditions and to investigate the occurrence of compounds of environmental significance within leachates. A review of current leachate treatment techniques will also be undertaken. Leachate quality data are being collected and compiled from a range of typical domestic waste landfill sites in the UK, and leachate from sites representative of major types of landfill in UK will be analysed for compounds of environmental significance. This work provides the source-term for a variety of related studies being undertaken on behalf of the Department of the Environment including the attenuation of components of landfill leachate within natural strata and a national survey of the impact of landfilling on groundwater quality.