Geo-electrical modeling of leachate contamination at a major waste disposal site in south-eastern Nigeria

Modeling Earth Systems and Environment (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

The contamination of aquifers due to the leaching of organic and inorganic waste materials deposited in landfills and open dumpsites leads to serious degradation of the environment. To determine the extent of leaching and to assess the migration of the leachate into the surrounding aquifer, vertical electrical sounding (VES) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys were carried out along a heavily contaminated waste disposal site in South-eastern Nigeria. The results obtained from the vertical electrical soundings show that the area comprises three subsurface layers, and that the aquifer lies between the second and third layer. Computation of longitudinal conductance values shows that the overall protective capacity of the aquifer is weak; hence, the capacity for leachate contamination within the aquifer is higher. Models obtained from the electrical resistivity tomography surveys indicate the direction of the leachate plumes and also show the extent of leachate percolation into the aquifer. On the electrical resistivity tomography models, the locations of anomalous low resistivity zones indicate the presence of leachate. The results show that the leachate is moving rapidly towards the aquifer and this will create serious environmental degradation to valuable water resources in the area, thereby affecting health of humans and livestock within this heavily populated zone. Further, the results from the resistivity surveys confirm that the resistivity technique is a powerful tool for delineating the presence of leachate plumes and for indicating to what extent the leachate has infiltrated into the surrounding aquifer.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

US$ 39.95

Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

References

  1. Abu-Zeid N, Bianchini G, Santarato G, Vaccaro C (2004) Geochemical characterization and geophysical mapping of landfill leachates: the Marozzo canal case study (NE Italy). Environ Geol 45:439–447

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Ahmed AM, Sulaiman WN (2001) Evaluation of groundwater and soil pollution in a landfill area using electrical resistivity imaging survey. Environ Manag 28:655–663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Akinola BS, Awoyemi MO, Matthew OJ, Adebayo AS (2018) Geophysical and hydro-chemical investigation of contamination plume in a basement complex formation around Sunmoye dumpsite in Ikire, Southwestern Nigeria. Model Earth Syst Environ 4:753–764

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Aristodemou E, Thomas-Betts A (2000) DC resistivity and induced polarization investigations at a waste disposal site and its environments. J Appl Geophys 44:275–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Batayneh AT, Barjous MO (2005) Resistivity surveys near a waste disposal site in the Qasr Tuba area of central Jordan. Bull Eng Geol Environ 64:285–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Bernstone C, Dahlin T, Ohlsson T, Hogland H (2000) DC-resistivity mapping of internal landfill structures: two pre-excavation surveys. Environ Geol 39:360–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Cardarelli E, Bernabini M (1997) Two case studies of the determination of parameters of urban waste dumps. J Appl Geophys 36:167–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Chambers JE, Kuras O, Meldrum PI, Ogilvy RD, Hollands J (2006) Electrical resistivity tomography applied to geologic, hydrogeologic, and engineering investigations at a former waste disposal site. Geophysics 71:B231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Clement R, Oxarango L, Descloitres M (2011) Contribution of 3-D time-lapse ERT to the study of leachate recirculation in a landfill. Waste Manag 31:457–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Depountis N, Harris C, Davies MCR, Koukis G, Sabatakakis N (2005) Application of electrical imaging to leachate plume evolution studies under in-situ and model conditions. Environ Geol 47:907–914

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Devaraj N, Chidambaram S, Panda B, Thivya C, Thilagavathi R, Ganesh N (2018) Geo-electrical approach to determine the lithological contact and groundwater quality along the KT boundary of Tamilnadu, India. Model Earth Syst Environ 4:269–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Dolk H, Vrijheid M, Armstrong B, Abramsky L, Bianchi F, Garne E, Nelen V, Robert E, Scott JES, Stone D, Tenconi R (1998) Risk of congenital anomalies near hazardous-waste landfill sites in Europe: the Eurohazcon study. Lancet 352:423–427

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Fatoba JO, Eluwole AB, Sanuade OA, Hammed OS, Igboama WN, Amosun JO (2020) Geophysical and geochemical assessments of the environmental impact of Abule-Egba landfill, southwestern Nigeria. Model Earth Syst Environ. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-020-00991-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Frid V, Liskevich G, Doudkinski D, Korostishevsky N (2008) Evaluation of landfill disposal boundary by means of electrical resistivity imaging. Environ Geol 53:1503–1508

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Gallas JDF, Taioli F, Filho WM (2011) Induced polarization, resistivity, and self-potential: a case history of a contamination evaluation due to landfill leakage. Environ Earth Sci 63:251–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Gautam PK, Biswas A (2016) 2D geo-electrical imaging for shallow depth investigation in Doon Valley Sub-Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India. Model Earth Syst Environ 2:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Gawande NA, Reinhart DR, Thomas PA, McCreanor PT, Townsend TG (2003) Municipal solid waste in situ moisture content measurement using an electrical resistance sensor. Waste Manag 23:667–674

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Genelle F, Sirieix C, Riss J, Renié S, Bégassat P (2012) Electrical resistivity monitoring on an experimental landfill clayey cover. In: Proceedings of the Near Surface Geoscience 2012—18th European meeting of environmental and engineering geophysics, Paris, France

  19. George NJ, Ekanem AM, Ibanga JI, Udosen NI (2017) Hydrodynamic implication of Aquifer Quality Index (AQI) and flow zone (F21) in ground water abstraction: a case study of coastal hydro-lithofacies in South-eastern Nigeria. J Coast Conserv 21:759–776

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Grellier S, Guerin R, Aran C, Robain H, Bellier G (2004) Geophysics applied to a bioreactor during leachate recirculation and to leachate samples. In: Conference proceedings of the 17th EEGS symposium on the application of geophysics to engineering and environmental problems, Feb 2004, cp-186-00062

  21. Grellier S, Reddy KR, Gangathulasi J, Adib R, Peters CC (2007) Correlation between electrical resistivity and moisture content of municipal solid waste in bioreactor landfill. Geotechnical special publication, vol 163. ASCE Press, Reston, pp 1–14

    Google Scholar 

  22. Grellier S, Guérin R, Robain H, Bobachev A, Vermeersch F, Tabbagh A (2008) Monitoring of leachate recirculation in a bioreactor landfill by 2D electrical resistivity imaging. J Environ Eng Geophys 13:351–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Guerin R, Munoz ML, Christophe A, Laperrelle C, Hidra M, Drouart E, Grellier S (2004) Leachate recirculation: moisture content assessment by means of a geophysical technique. Waste Manag 24:785–794

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Guy G, Best M, Spence G, Dosso S, Telmer K. (2000) EM and GPR mapping of bedrock fractures as conduits for contaminated groundwater flow in a landfill. In: Symposium on the application of geophysics to engineering and environmental problems 2000

  25. Kamura K (2002) Relationships between electrochemical properties of leachate and resistivity of strata in the landfill site consisting mainly of combustion residuals. Environ Geol 41:537–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Leroux V, Dahlin T, Svensson M (2007) Dense resistivity and induced polarization profiling for a landfill restoration project at Härlöv, Southern Sweden. Waste Manag Res 25:49–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Lohva J, Jokinen T, Suppala I (2008) Airborne geophysical studies around landfill areas—case histories from Finland. In: Conference Proceedings of the Near Surface 2008—14th EAGE European meeting of environmental and engineering geophysics, Sep 2008, cp-64-00038

  28. Martinho E, Almeida F (2006) 3D behaviour of contamination in landfill sites using 2D resistivity/IP imaging: case studies in Portugal. Environ Geol 49:1071–1078

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Moreira C, Castro M, Gonsalez A, Cavallari F, Munhoz T, Pereira A (2014) Comparative analysis between biogas flow in landfill and electrical resistivity tomography in Rio Claro City, Brazil. J Geol Res. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/845906

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Naudet V, Revil A, Rizzo E, Bottero JY, Bégassat P (2004) Groundwater redox conditions and conductivity in a contaminant plume from geoelectrical investigations. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 8:8–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Oladapo MI, Akintorinwa OJ (2007) Hydrogeophysical study of Ogbese Southwestern Nigeria. Global J Pure Appl Sci 13:55–61

    Google Scholar 

  32. Olagunju E, Ariyibi E, Awoyemi M, Adebayo A, Dasho O, Adenika C (2017) Application of geochemical and geophysical approach to environmental impact assessment: a case study of Emirin active open dumpsite, Ado-Ekiti Southwestern Nigeria. Model Earth Syst Environ 3:1543–1555

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Rosqvist H, Leroux V, Dahlin T, Svensson M, Lindsjo M, Mansson C, Johansson S (2011) Mapping landfill gas migration using resistivity monitoring. Waste Resour Manag 164:3–15

    Google Scholar 

  34. Udosen NI, George NJ (2018) A finite integration forward solver and a domain search inverse solver for electrical resistivity tomography. Model Earth Syst Environ 4:1–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Udosen NI, Potthast RWE (2018) Automated optimization of electrode locations for electrical resistivity tomography. Model Earth Syst Environ 4:1059–1083

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. White E, Day-Lewis F, Johnson CD, Lane J (2016) Application of frequency and time-domain electromagnetic surveys to characterize hydrostratigraphy and landfill construction at the Amargosa Desert Research Site, Beatty, Nevada. In: Symposium on the application of geophysics to engineering and environmental problems 2015

  37. Yoon GL, Oh H, Park J (2002) Laboratory study of landfill leachate effect on resistivity in unsaturated soil using cone penetrometer. Environ Geol 43:18–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Zume JT, Tarhule A, Christenson SC (2006) Subsurface imaging of an abandoned solid waste landfill site in Norman, Oklahoma. Ground Water Monit Rem 26:62–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Akwa Ibom State University, Mkpat Enin, Nigeria

    Ndifreke I. Udosen

Authors
  1. Ndifreke I. Udosen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ndifreke I. Udosen.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Udosen, N.I. Geo-electrical modeling of leachate contamination at a major waste disposal site in south-eastern Nigeria. Model. Earth Syst. Environ. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40808-021-01120-9

Download citation

Keywords

  • Leachate
  • South-eastern nigeria
  • Electrical resistivity tomography
  • Aquifer contamination