Statistical Assessment of Groundwater and Surface water Contamination Due to Municipal Solid Waste dumping -A Case Study at Karadiyana Garbage Dump

This study was conducted to measure the impact of a municipal solid waste landfill on groundwater quality and Surface water quality around Karadiyana, a solid waste dumping site in Western Province Sri Lanka. One of the main complications related with dumping of municipal solid waste in a landfill site is the leachate release and its impact on the nearby water sources. This study has utilized the analysis on physio-chemical parameters of the surface and ground water samples collected during both wet and dry periods covering the leachate region of the site. Compared with the permissible limits for drinking water quality and Inland Surface water Standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and World Health Organization (WHO), it was identified that majority of the water samples have been contaminated far beyond the levels of set limits. Mean values of the physicochemical parameters of water samples have been taken as the data which were analyzed using descriptive analysis. The T-test, have been used for explaining the temporal variations of the perceived water quality parameters. Preceding to examining the seasonal influences on water quality parameters, the whole observation samples were divided into two main seasons as Dry (August) and Wet (October). The Bi-variate correlation was calculated in order to identify the nature and magnitude of the connection among different physicochemical parameters in order to determine whether there was any important association among water quality parameters or not. Characterization of leachate and water samples revealed that, the water sources around the dumping site which is within 500m from the dump site has been deteriorated in reaction to the leachate percolation. Additionally spatial and statistical analysis exposed that maximum contamination was present in the locations which are close to the leachate drains.