Geophysical and Geochemical Characterization of Solidwaste Dumpsite: A Case Study of Chowa Gujar, Peshawar (Part of Indus Basin)

Abstract

Open and non-engineered dumping is a typical method for solid waste disposal in most cities of Pakistan. This practice of waste dumping poses a serious threat to the surrounding ecosystem and human population due to the release and transport of decomposed organic matter, i.e., leachate from dumpsite into the groundwater. The present study was conducted over a non-engineered and open dumpsite (Chowa Gujar), located in the outskirts of the highly populated city of Peshawar by using integrated geophysical techniques such as electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and geochemical techniques. The main goal was to delineate the characterization and depth of buried waste, to map the subsurface extension of contaminant plumes towards agricultural land and groundwater table and the concentration of heavy metals (HMs) in dump and agricultural soil. Geophysical results showed that the thickness of buried waste (predominantly composed of domestic waste) was around 4 m and the leachate plumes have percolated to the adjacent agricultural land. A range of heavy metals (mg/kg) such as Cr (20.5–26.6), Cd (2.6–5.7), Pb (0.35–21.25), Ni (2.5–53.05), Cu (29–68.3), Zn (45.7–77), and Co (18.9–23.2) have been found in the agricultural land adjacent to the dumpsite. The findings demonstrated that combined use of ERT and GPR successfully characterize the buried waste and spread of pollutant plumes spatially and vertically from Chowa Gujar dumpsite. The anomalous geophysical signatures were confirmed by geochemical characterization. The movement of leachate plumes towards agricultural land and groundwater table and the concentration of HMs in soil show that Chowa Gujar dumpsite is a potential source of contamination not only to the surrounding population but also to the agricultural land, surface (Bara River), and subsurface water bodies. In the study region, there is an urgency to take remediation and mitigation measures to reduce the level of pollution created by the dumpsite.

Reconnaissance Survey of Organic Contaminants of Emerging Concern in the Kabul and Swat Rivers of Pakistan

“…In Mardan, MSW is utilized as a fill material to level residential lands (Israr et al, 2022). Butt et al (2022) provides a comprehensive example of an unengineered dump site from 2019 located in the Peshawar basin.…”

From Its Core to the Niche: Insights from GPR Applications

“…Waste and contaminants Ground-Penetrating Radar for Environmental Applications 2001 [195] Soil studies Application of Ground-Penetrating Radar methods in soil studies: A review 2019 [220] Agricultural studies Ground-Penetrating Radar for underground sensing in agriculture: a review 2016 [221] Ice sounding Five decades of radioglaciology 2020 [222] Mining A review of selected Ground-Penetrating Radar applications to mineral resource evaluations 2012 [223] Root biomass Application of Ground-Penetrating Radar for coarse root detection and quantification: a review 2013 [224] Among the different techniques commonly adopted within the domain, GPR is predominantly combined with ERT, EMI, and hyperspectral sensors, as a consequence of the fact that the majority of applications involve the detection of a water-related physical and chemical parameter or variations in the electrical property of the subsurface. This is particularly true for soil moisture content and contaminant monitoring [225][226][227][228][229]. However, GPR remains probably the most exploited geophysical method for glaciological studies and glacier monitoring, as well as for all other applications in which retrieving the geometrical attributes is a critical and essential task.…”

Hydrogeochemical appraisal, groundwater quality, and health risks through potential toxic elements around municipal solid waste dumpsite Peshawar, Pakistan

“…The uncontrolled and non-engineered dumping poses a significant issue that needs to be addressed urgently (Butt et al, 2022). These open dumpsites undergoing biological degradation by water interaction produce a contaminated liquid known as leachate (Rajoo et al, 2020).…”