Authors : Ernest Orji Akudo, George Uchebike Ozulu and Lewis Chucks Osogbue
Abstract: Ground water and leachates samples from three dumpsites located in Warri were studied to assess the impact of solid waste on ground water resources in the area. Ground water samples were collected from holes drilled to depth of 3 m in all three dumpsites. Leachate samples were collected from the dumpsite vicinities while water samples were collected from 17 existing boreholes and 8 open hand-dug wells within the study areas. The depth to water table in the study area ranged between 1.5-3.0 m. The water samples in all three locations have mild to high iron concentrations (0.01-0.9 mg L-1) and mild to high acidity (4.47-6.95). The high acidity in almost all water samples is related to products of anaerobic decomposition of waste while the high iron concentration noticed in most samples which is higher than WHO limit of 0.1 mg L-1 can be attributed to the location of such boreholes and wells close to such source as dumpsites. The presence of such dumpsites, therefore is a potential source of pollution to the ground water because of shallow depth of water table and the closeness of dumpsites to source of drinking water.
Ernest Orji Akudo, George Uchebike Ozulu and Lewis Chucks Osogbue, 2010. Quality Assessment of Ground Water in Selected Waste Dumpsites Areas in Warri, Nigeria. Environmental Research Journal, 4: 281-285.