A review on methods of assessing pollution levels from landfills in South Africa

As a result of poor MSW management in South Africa, leachate generation has been reported in lined and unlined landfills, which calls for measures to quantify and safely return it to the environment without causing adverse effects on the facilities' vicinity. This paper presents a review of studies on leachate assessment and quantification in South African landfills. Hydrogeological analyses are discussed as an intrusive method while lysimetry, water balance method (WBM), geoelectrical mapping and ICP-OES are discussed as non-intrusive methods. Findings of the review allude to the importance of advanced operations management, rehabilitation and redesigning of landfills for accurate quantification of generated leachate. Additionally, intensive research is necessary in this field to validate findings of existent studies and cover the under-researched areas of the country and sub-Saharan Africa at large. Moving forward, this review recognises that accurate leachate quantification in landfills and identification of its migration provides information necessary for remediation efforts.