Ingress of municipal solid waste into water resources: an environmental assessment and monitoring tool near dumpsites in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

Municipal solid waste (MSW) dumping sites are only used for trash discarding. Beyond the reek that the dumpsites generate, which defiles the milieu, the primary issue is the spreading of fluid from the landfills. The thrust of this research is to utilize the contiguous data from geophysics and laboratory analysis of groundwater samples to decipher the influence of MSW on aquifer systems in Uyo and Eket Counties. Geo-electrical studies featured vertical electrical sounding (VES) and constant electrode separation techniques to generate 1D and 2D electrical resistivity. The analyzed field data were integrated with water sample analysis to deduce the influence of leachate on groundwater. The VES curve types conformed to A (7.1%), HK (21.4%), Q (21.4%), and K (50.0%). The created 2D image maps for MSW locations lay bare the fact that leachate dispersal between source and sink obeys the inverse square rule. The heavy ions, which were all higher than the approved standards have, chromium as the highest and nickel as the least. The anionic average relative abundance has hydrogen trioxocarbonate ion concentration as the highest and fluoride ions as the least. The survey demonstrates that leachate has a considerable impact on groundwater.