IMPACTS OF SULAIBYAH LANDFILL PRACTICES ON THE GROUNDWATER QUALITY IN KUWAIT

Abstract

This study titled “Impacts of Sulaibyah Landfill Practices on Groundwater Quality in Kuwait”, was conducted within a Geography course for undergraduate program in University of Central Lancashire by Khaled Al-Fahad and supervised by Dr Jo Dawson. The main aim of this report is to study the impacts of a specific municipal landfill on groundwater quality.

The State of Kuwait is considered one of the poorest countries in the world regarding water resources (Darwish et al 2008). The most abundant water resource is the groundwater but its consumption is critical due to the slow recharge. Therefore, extreme protection measures should be applied to protect this valuable source. The main threat to the groundwater is possible contaminants reaching the aquifer. Landfill practices in Kuwait using unlined
abandoned queries represent the major threat to groundwater. Leachates produced from unlined landfills have the ability to contaminate the groundwater with hazardous materials that may cause the loss of this valuable water source.

In an attempt evaluate potential sources of contamination for groundwater by landfills in Kuwait. Water quality was evaluated in five groundwater wells in Sulaibyah landfill located to the west of Kuwait city. In the mean time, and in attempting to characterize the potential groundwater contaminating sources, samples from the waste trucks (untreated municipal wastewater, and industrial wastewater) and liquid waste pond were collected and analyzed. The results of the analyzed groundwater constituents, boron, nitrate, aluminum, lithium, fluoride, TPH, TCB and TDS were found to be above the drinking water limits but only the
elevated TPH and TCB in the groundwater could be attributed to the landfills at Sulaibyah with a considerable level of confidence.

Reviewing the current regulations for landfilling (EPA and municipality in the State of Kuwait) and international guidelines, and building upon the information gained in this study, a set of guidelines were developed to ensure the safety of groundwater quality.