APRIL 1967

VOL 5 9 • NO.· 4

D avis, Seeger, Murphy

FUTURE PLANNING
Golze, Eliassen
STATUS OF FLUORIDATION
Task Group Report
PROPERTIES OF PLASTICS

SANITARY LANDFILL INFLUENCE

Reinhart
I'
Andersen, Dornbush
COLORIMETRIC DETERMINATION -
Black, Whittle
ENTEROVIRUSES AND BACTERIOPHAGE
Joyce, Weiser
BACTERIAL ENTERIC PATHOGENS
Andre, Weiser, Malaney
ASSOCIATION ACTIVITIES IN 1966
Committee Reports

\
'(\
Not anti-aircraft
but pro-people, this battery- ' \
they're sluice gates to control
Colora do River water en route
to Southern California
\ '
1967 AWWA CONFERENCE
ATLANTIC CITY
JUNE 4-9
 Influence of Sanitary Landfill on Ground
Water Quality
-----John R. Andersen and James N. Dornbush----
A paper presented on May 25, 1966, at the Annual Conference, Bal
Harboitr, Fla., by John R. Andersen, Assoc. Prof. of Civil Engineer-
ing, and James N. Dornbiisli, Prof. of Civil Engineeri11g, Civil En-
gineering Dept., South Dakota State Univ., Brookings, S01tth Dakota.

ODAY, land methods for disposing Solid Waste Disposal

T of or treating our solid and liquid
wastes are being widely used. There-
fore, a potential health hazard exists
for those that use the nearby ground
water as a source of supply. Any im-
pairment . of the quality of the ground
water by chemicals and microorganisms
is of concern to health agencies. How-
ever, the magnitude of the potential
danger to ground water emanating
from a refuse disposal site and the de-
gree of concern that should be given
to it is largely unknown.
Valuable information pertaining to
refuse disposal and ground water has
' been provided from studies made in
California. 1 - 3 These include compre-
hensive reviews of the literature re-
porti ng experiences in other parts of
the world. A nationwide symposium 4
was held in 1961 to outline the present
knowledge of ground water contamina-
tion and to guide future research in
this area. A general conclusion was
made that more information was re-
quired on the geologic and climatic
conditions of waste disposal sites where
possible contamination was taking
place.
457
In addition, a conference on solid
waste disposal held in 1963 5 empha-
sized the need for greater knowledge
on the magnitude of ground water pol-
lution from refuse disposal operations.
A major concern has been whether
previously collected data could be ex·
trapolated to other geologic and cli-
matic conditions, types of refuse, and
methods of operation of the site. The
practice of using abandoned quarries
and excavations for refuse disposal sug-
gested the need of a study to determine
the extent of ground water quality im-
pairment from this type of site.
This paper is a report of a study
made to afford a more generalized con-
clusion than is now available concern-
ing ground water quality as affected by
a sanitary landfill located in a gravel
pit that penetrates a high water table.
Background and Development
In May 1960, Brookings was faced
with the relocation of its refuse dis-
posal site. The new site is located
2 mi south of the community where
the city purchased a quarter-section of
land that was an inactive gravel ex-
cavation area.
458 J. R . ANDERSEN & J. N. DORNBUSH l our.Awwif

The neighboring landowners ob- conventional landfill. The grave\ .

jected to the municipality relocating
the re f use disposal area into t I1e1r
. d
midsts. Naturally, they obj ected to the
possibilities of nuisances, including
odors and litter as well as the public
hazards from rats and flies. These ob-
jections, however, were subservient to
the possible impairment of ground wa-
area was selected for dumping of ref Pit
. . use
an t11e rema111111g area was rented f
farming. Jn order to collect infon or
tion concerning the general qualityna.
the ground water within the area, t~!
level of the ground water table and th
direction of underground water inov e
ment, the city installed eleven W~l

Fig. 1. Active Filling Area at the Refuse Disposal Site, Sep. 1963
1
The aerial view is towards the northeast showing the nearly level agricult1iral la11d
and the various farmsites that are upstream from the disposal site. The active dump-
ing area, a former grav el pit, is bounded on the west by a pond of water and masked
on the north by a shelter belt.

ter quality from chemical pollutants
that might affect future utilization of
the aquifer underlying the waste dis-
posal site. It was this later obj ection
that caused the landowners their great-
est concern.
In the development of the 160-acre
site, the city planted trees to mask the
entire area and operated the site as a
points at five different locations on the
perimeter of the gravel pit area of the
site. Water samples were collected
periodically (approximate 3-rnonth in-
tervals) and analyzed at the state de-
partment of health laboratory.
In the fall of 1962, two years after
starting filling operations of the dis-
posal area, the results of the labora-
 ,4pr.1967 INFLUENCE OF SANITARY LA N DFILL 459

torY analyses. aflnd othder factors. wh~ch Therefore, instead of depositing all the
, have m uence contam111at1on refuse in a specially prepared trench,
uia} e evaluate d . 1' 111s
· eva 1uat1on
· esta 1J - th e refu se is usually sorted into three
ii•cr that t Iie genera 1 c1·1rect1on
fished · .. o f tie
I or four classes and clumped into di,f-
round water flow was app1:ox 1mately ferent areas. Combustible material is
gut itlnvest and revealed
-
that only slight
.
burned to reduce the volur'ne of refuse
0
. painnent of ground water quality
1111
before compaction. Each area receiv-
d ccurre d m
. t 11e area 11111ne
. d'1ateIy ing the different classes of refuse is
1 0
.~~ownstream" from the filled area. periodically compacted and covered to

Well No. Dale Installed

•
t
1-11 1960
0 200 400
12-22 x 1964 I
23-31 0 1965 Scale in Feet
Level Recorder /;.

~·
B
"ii 11!3
0
26 •
,;.:===::.~"::.:.

0 l
24 2
3
0
28 .

22x
27
6 29 030

Fig. 2. Map of Refuse Disposal Site

The 111ap shows the general layou.t of the refuse disposal site indicating the location of
the wells used for sampling, the pond, and the active fill area.

Controlled Disposal avoid flies, rodents, and odors. The

It should be noted that the present
operation conducted at the Brookings
refuse area is not that of a conventional
sai1itary landfill, but rather a method
of controlled disposal. This change in
operation occurred during 1962 when
the water table was abnormally high.
economy of this segregation is not
known, but the resident operator feels
that he obtains a better quality of com-
pleted fill. This method of operation
avoids the general objections of an
open dump and the operator reports
that no complaints have been received
from the farmers in the area. At
460 J. R. ANDERSEN & J. N. DORNBUSH

present, all the gravel pits have not level. Each well was pumped 5
been filled with refuse. Figure 1 min before sampling to insure that '
shows the general filling area as of sample was from the aquifer and a'
September 1963. not include any water that had ~ s
While consulting with the city of- standing in the pipe. A quart 831', t
ficials concerning the interpretation of ple was pumped into plastic hottt
the analysis of the water samples, it for transport to the laboratory.
was noted that during 1963 and 1964
increasing concentrations of certain
constituents ~ccurred. Spurred on by
the interest of the officials of the city
and the state health department a re-
search project was initiated by the
Civil Engineering Dept. of South Da-
kota State University, to obtain more
comprehensive information.

Methods
In Dec. 1964, eleven sampling points
were installed at five additional lo-
cations to augme11t the existing wells
and to study more completely the
movement of the ground water, the
leaching of the refuse dump, and the
effects of a small pond in the immediate
area of the fill on the chemical quality
of the ground water. Figure 2 is a
general layout of the refuse disposal
site showing the location of the sam-
pling wells, the pond, and the fill area.
Samples were taken every 3-4 wk Fig. 3. A Representative Profile of the
from Feb. to Jul. 1965. This resulted Soil Characteristics
in six different samples from each of An 8-in. pencil is shown with a soil pro- I
the 22 wells plus two samples from file of the disposal a.rea. Below the vege-
the pond. The pond was not sampled ta.tion is a 14-in. layer of all1wim11 fol-
during ice cover. The wells are located lowed b'y a 3-ft portion of the 23 ft of
in ten different general locations with gravel that 1t11derla:y the site. Th e maxi-
the pond water being considered as nmm size aggregate is appro:i:imately 3 i11.
the eleventh position. There are from _/

on~ to three wells at varying depths at A review of the literature indicated

the different general locations.
Because the ground water table was
only about 6.5 . ft below the ground
surface, the samples were obtained by
pumping the wells with a portable
centrifugal pump set at the ground
that several parameters would ·ade-
quately serve to describe the variations
in the chemical quality of the ground
water. Those parameters selected
were pH, specific conductance, total
hardness, calcium hardness, alkalinity,
 INFLUENCE OF SANITARY LANDFILL 461
Apr.1967
'de and nitrate. Subsequently, a hydraulic boundary for the waters in
ch Iorthe
J
, equipment
. b ecame ava1·1 abl e, the outwash. A typical log of a test
a~dium and pota.ssium were also cl.e- hole is presented in Table 1.
s mi'ned and because several samples, No soil chemistry work has been
ter ' . . · accomplished in connection with this
sitting, exh1b1ted the presence of
upon . . h . study; however, detailed mechanical
iron this determ1 nayon wads t en m-
ctuded. All ana 1yhc proce ures con- and chemical information 7 is avail-
formed to Standard M ethods. 6 able for the shallow alluvium layer.
The cation exchange capacity of the
Geologic Information outwash was considered to be very
low. As a result, the influence of those
A soil survey of Brookings County 7 ions naturally present in the soil were
provided some information about the not considered to be a major contrib-
general area of the disposal site, but uting factor to the variation in chemi-
was insufficient to aid in the interpre- cal quality of the ground water. The
tation of the data obtained. Because change in concentrations was con-
the movement of the water through the sidered to be solely caused by the
fill area is dependent upon the under- presence of the refuse deposited at the
ground conditions of the site, a geologic landfill site.
investigation 8 was made of the quarter
section of land in Jul. 196S. ·R esults
This more detailed information re-
vealed that the 160-acre site consists The prominent features of the solid
of approximately SS acres of loam and waste disposal are the filling operation
105 acres of sandy loam, both of which in the gravel pit area, the high water
are characterized by a thin section of table, and the pond of water on the
alluvium overlaying an outwash of downstream side of the present fill
sand and gravel. The outwash, having area.
a thickness of 12-31 ft, is overlain by Six wells, numbers 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, and
alluvium ranging in thickness from 12- 11, located upstream from the actual
30 in. Furthermore, the outwash is disposal site, were selected as control
composed of thin discontinuous lenses wells to indicate the chemical quality
of various portions of sand and gravel, of the water entering the area (Fig. 2).
with some silt and clay intermixed During the period of investigation no
(Fig. 3). These lenses have different major variation in water quality of the
permeabilities ranging from 2,000 ft control wells was noted. Those chem-
per day to less than a foot per day. ical changes that were observed in the
The existing hydraulic gradient control wells could be influenced by
coupled with the permeability of the the location and depth of the wells, the
lenses tend to establish the velocity of sampling and analytical procedures, as
flow of the ground water and, con- well as the climatic variation that oc-
sequently, the velocities were estimated curred during the S month sampling
to range from 3 ft per day to less than period. The major influence causing
1 ft per day. chemical quality variation in the con-
A deposit of till occurs beneath the trol wells appeared to be related to the
outwash, and while it is not completely date of sample collection. Further-
impermeable it is considered to act as more, upon analysis of the data, it was
462 J. R. ANDERSEN & J. N. DOR N BUSH ]
O!tr • .t1 WJ.p,f

TABLE 1s mediate western and downstream

Log of Test Hole Located 125 ft South of Wells of the active dumping area, indi edge
. I . f cate a
N o. 5 and 6 I11g 1 concentrat10n o excess ions
compared to the control wells. We~
Depth
ft. Descripti.o n ·• D esignation 5 and 6 which are generally located,
the same downstream location bin
0-1
1-6
Clay and silt, black
Sand and fine gravel with
Alluvium
Outwash
laterally displaced from wells lZ 1
~t
and 14, contain the second largest' '
some tan clay . f . Tl. . con.
6-8 Silt, tan, with clay and Outwash centrat10n o 10ns. 11s indicates t
sand. s~me degree the influence of adequat:
8-10 Sand, very fine to very Outwash distance from a source of potential c
coarse, and fine to tamination. on.
medium gravel with
The existence of the pond betwee
silt and clay
10-13 Gravel, medium, with
fine to very coarse sand
Outwash the locations represented by wells
13, and 14 and wells 15, 16, and 17
1;
and clay
13-23 Gravel, medium, with Outwash
has a definite influence on the quality
sand and very small of the ground water. The other down.
quantity of silt stream locations (wells 18, 19; 20
23-33 Clay, light tan, with sand Till 21; and 22) show a decrease in ati
and rock fragments
parameters, which is indicative of the
influence of the soil, the dispersion of
judged th~t the control wells repre- the contaminants, and the recharge
sented ground water that did not con- that may have occurred. Wells 18 and
tain contamination from the disposal 19 show a larger decrease in mean
site. concentration than does well 22 even
The mean chemical quality of the though they are located closer to the
ground water in the vicinity of the ref- actual dumping area. This was at-
use landfill during the study period is tributed to recharge during two sam-
shown in Table 2. The arithmetic pling periods when surface water was
value for each parameter is grouped observed to be standing in the small
to represent changes that occurred as depression in which the wells are
the water flowed through the fill area. located.
This arrangement is not necessarily in A more generalized representation
a straight line as the flow of the ground of some of these analytical data is
water would be from a point source, shown in Fig. 4 which represents the
but represents a general arrangement cations of sodium, calcium, and mag-
across the landfill site in the down- nesium for each lo.cation. R eferring
stream direction from the deposited ref- to this figure it is seen that the ground
use. The means were computed utiliz- water contains progressively more dis-
ing all the data for each location; that solved ions as it approaches the active
is, the values from all wells on all dumping area. This figure also serves
dates are combined to compute the to indicate the dramatic influence of
mean. the pond on the ground water quality.
The ground water quality continued to
Excess Ions improve with distance traveled down-
As shown in Table 2, wells 12, 13, stream from the fill area as indicated
and 14, which are located in the im- by well 22, which is located appro~i-
 l N FLU E NCE OF SAN ITARY L AN DFILL 463
;Jpr. 1967

tely 1,200 feet downstream from the
~~~ area. The quality of well 22 is
fl:nost comparable to the control wells
~vith only a slight increase-)n sodium
and chloride concentr.atiqn . .
Statistical Analysi$
To compare the quality of individual
amples with those of the control wells,
5
nd to determine if water quality
~hanged with time, location, and depth,
probability limits of possible variation
for each pa rameter were determined
using all of the data for the control
wells, 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, and 11. The sam-
ples for these six different wells were
taken on six different dates from two
different locations; therefore, the stand-
ard deviation from the mean would
include variation due to date, location,
and depth. The confidence limits for
the control wells are shown in Tabl e 3
along with the mean value and stand-
ard deviation from that mean for each
parameter.
Confidence intervals at the 95 per
cent and the 99 per cent level were
selected to show reasonable significant
difference. Students' "t" distribution
was used. If a parameter from an in-
dividual well sample was not within
the range of the control mean plus or
mmus the confidence deviation, the
ground water was considered to be of
different quality than that of the con-
trol wells.
Table 4 contains the number of times
various parameters exceeded the 95
per cent and 99 per cent confidence
limits of the control wells during six
different dates for each of the test
wells and two dates for the pond wa-
ter. This table reveals which param-
eters were the most sensitive or most
suitable to use as indicators for de-
tecting changes in ground water qual-
ity.
The totals for each parameter were
adjusted so that they could be more

TABLE 2
Ch emical Quality of Gro1111d Water* at vVe/.l L ocations in the Vicini ty of the
Refuse Landfill at Brookings , S. Dak. Feb.-Jnl. 1965

Specific
Conduct - T otal Ca lcium Alka- Potas-
pH Nitrates Chlorides a nee Hardness Hardness linity Sodium Iron
(Mg/l) (M g/l) (Mhos@ (Mg/l) sium (Mg/l)
(Mg/l) (M g/l ) (M g(l) (1l1g/l)
25°C
x 10-•)
- --
Control 7.3 9.8 5.8 544 302 190 243 10. 2 0.16 O.D7
wells
7, 8 7.3 15.0 12.3 648 346 215 242 15.0 0.10 0.02
4 7.2 4.6 64.7 704 369 245 270 27.1 0.54 0.04
12, 13, 7.1 0 319.7 1695 578 293 471 219.4 2.79 4.35
14
5, 6 7.0 0 70.4 1054 558 336 401 64.4 0.63 0.06
Pond 8.8 0 71.0 806 278 104 178 76 .0 1.85 0.22
wa ler
15, 16 7.2 0 93.8 811 367 201 279 51.9 0.43 0.38
20, 21 7.5 3.7 19. 7 602 323 185 210 18.6 0.16 0.16
18, 19 7.4 0 37.7 572 293 177 229 20.4 0.14 0.25
22 7. 4 7.7 16.6 564 307 185 218 15.4 0.13 0.26

* Arithme tic mean va lues are re ported by combinin g va lues of all sam ples from wells grouped in their respective
locations for six dates during the period. Control wells represent six wells at two locations.
 464 J. R. ANDERSEN & J. N. DORNBUSH

TABLE 3
Mean, Standard Deviation, and Co11fidence Limits for A11alyses of Control Well e
Samples at the Refuse L a11dfill, Feb .- Jttl., 1965 j
ti
~
Confidence Li mits
Parameter Number of Mean Standard
Samples Deviation
95 Per Cent
Limit 99 P~r Cent
Lun1 t

pH 36 7.31 0.137 7.03-7.59 ---::-=------

6.94-7.68
Nitrates (mg/l) 36 9.80 4.36 0.95-18.64 0-2 1.70
Chlorides (mgl,l) 36 5.84 2.62 0.52- 11.16 0-12.98
Specific Cond uctance 36 543.6 40.2 462-626 433-655
(Mhos@ Z5 °C X 10-s)
Total Hardness (mg/l) 36 302.1 23. 1 255-349 239-365
Calcium Hardness (111g/l) 36 190.3 15.2 159-22 1 148-232
Alkali nity (mg/l) 36 242.8 21.7 199-287 184-302
Sodium (mg/l) 24 10.2 1 3.04 3.91-16.51 1.67-18.75
Potassium (mg/l) 24 0.16 0.06 0.05- 0.28 0-.32
Iron ( mg/l) 12 0.07 0.06 0.0- 0.20 0-.26

TABLE 4
N11111ber of T i mes Various Parameters Exceed 95 per cent and 99 per cent Confidence
Limits at Each Well During Six Different Dates, Feb.-Jul., 1965

Specific
-
Well
Number
pH I
Nitrates
(mg/ I)
Chlo-
rides
(mg/I}
Conduct-
a nee
Tota l
(Mhos@ Hardness
(mg/I)
Calcium
Hardness
(111 g/l)
Alka-
linity
(111 g/ll
Sodiu mt Potas-
(111 g/l) siumt
(111g/l)
Iron #
(111g/l)
25°C
x 10-•)
-95-- --- -
-
95 99 99 95 99 95 99 95 99 95 99 95 99 95 99 95 99 95 99
7 0 0
---
2 0 4 3 5 3 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0
-0- -
0 0 0
8 0 0 2 0 4 1 4 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
1 0
- --
0 ·a 3 3 3 0 0 3
--- -- 0

-
4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 0 0
- - - - - - - - --
12 1 0 6 0 6 6 6 6 6 6 1 1 6 6
---
4 4
-4- -
4 2 2
13 3 2 6 0 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 4 4 4 2 2
14 3 1 6 0 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 4 4 4 2 2
5 4 1
---
6 0 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 4
---
4 4
--
0 0
6 3 1 6 0 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 4 4 4 3 0 0
--- - - - --
Pond
water 2 2 2 0 2 2 2 2 0 0 2* 2* 2* 1* 2 2 2 2 1 0
--- -----
15 0 0 6 0 6 6 6 6 2 3 1 1 4 3 4 4 2 1 10 10
16 0 0 6 0 6 6 s s 2 1 1 0 2 2 4 4 2 1 0 0
17 0 0 6 0 6 6 6 6 s 4 2 2 s s 4 4 4 4 2 2
--- -----
20 4 4 2 0 6 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 2 0 0 2 2
21 0 0 1 0 6 6 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 3 0 0 0 0
--- -----
18 2 2 6 0 6 6 0 0 l* 0 1* 0 1* l* 2 1 0 0 2 2
19 1 0 s 0 s s 3* 2* 2* l* 1* 1* 2* l* 3 3 0 0 1 0
22 1 1
-0--0 6 s 0 0 0 0 l* 0 0 0 1 1
-----
0 0 2 I

Adjusted Totals

95 per cent I 25 68 90 68 49 38 49 76.S so 48

99 per cent 14 0 86 60 42 35
I . 43 70.S 45 45

* = One or 111ore va lues were lower than control wells.

t = Only a tota l of 4 tests made.
# = Only a tota l of 2 tests made.
 INFLUE N CE OF SANITARY LA N DFILL 465

·1y compared. Sodium and potas- at the 99 per cent level. Sodium was
e~st were only determined on four next in significance in that it exceeded
s1ul11s. therefo re, t I1eir
· totals I1ad to be the confidence limits 77 times at the
I te '
ca . f I1s to c011}pare 95 per cent level and 71 times at the·
mu Jtiplied by six- ourt • . 99 per cent level. Nitrates and specific
WI
'th the parameters t1Jat were run six • •
. es Iron totals had to be multiplied conductance are third, each showing
11111 • the same amount of variation at the
b six over two for the s ame reason .
/rter this adjustment the max imum 95 per cent confidence level. Nitrates

1,200
• Sodium

1,000 0 Magnesium - - - - - - - - - - I

..
~

0" ~ Calcium
""
800

'.,
E
I
c
600

~ 400

~c
0
200
"
0
Control 7,8 4 12,13, 14 5,6 Pond 15,16,17 20,21 18,19 22
Wells

Fig. 4. Representation of the Mean Cation Concentration at Well Locations, Feb.- Jul.
1965

The bar graph is arranged according to the generalized flow of ground water, how-
ever, some wells are laterally displaced frotn the central flow pattern. For a given
location the wells shown are at different depths. Max·innim total concentration in the
immediate fill area is approximately twice the concentration of the water entering the
area ( control wells) and that leaving the area (well 22). The pond, in the immediate
vicinity of the fill, is shown to exert a moderating inffoena on these concentrations.

number of times any parameter could
have exceeded the 95 per cent or 99
per cent confidence limits was 98.
Chlorides
The parameter showing the greatest
variation from the control wells was
chlorides. Of the possible 98 chances,
the chlorides for all locations were be-
yond the confidence interval 90 times
at the 95 per cent level and 86 times
did not exhibit a significant difference
at the 99 per cent level because most
nitrate concentrations were zero, which
indicated a complete disappearance of
nitrates; however, the confidence in-
terval included zero nitrates and, there-
fore, the absence of nitrates was not
exhibited as being statistically sig-
nificant.
It is interesting to note that the
hardness and alkalinity parameters
466 J. R. ANDERSEN &
varied the least, with the exception of
pH, from the quality of the native wa-
ter. This is in apparent contrast with
the results of the California 2 studies
which revealed that .; a hardness in-
crease may be one of the most serious
impairments 6£ ground water quality.
The presence of the open pond of water
located immediately downstream from
the active r'efuse landfill area appears
to offer the most logical explanation
for this difference in results between
the two studies.
Table 3 shows that th©se wells (wells
5, 6, 12, 13, and 14) closest to the fill
area were affected to the greatest ex-
tent. N 0 correlation betw~en depths
of the wells and ground water quality
at the same location was apparent.
This is plausible because the aquifer
was found to be only 6-25 ft deep and
the potential pollutants might be ex7
pected to diffuse throughout the entire
depth.
Other statistical treatment of the
data revealed that some increase in the
number of "contaminated" wells oc-
curred during the later portion of the
study. This increase was correlated
with the elevation of the ground wa-
ter table but did Il0t consider the ve-
locity of flow from the point source
of the landfill. The higher the water
table, the larger were the concentra-
tions observed. It was assumed that
the rise in ground water initiated more
active leaching from the fill area as
was observed in the studies in Cali-
fornia.2
Chemical Parameter Evaluation
The chemical parameters used were
evaluated to determine which would
J. N. DOR N BUSH
best serve as indicators of a g
. . . ene..,
mcrease
·
m concentration of vari. •,.
0
chemicals that may be leached f 111
the disposal area. · rotl
pH- excessive hydr0gen i©n con
tration would be detrimental to ween.
quality-but the pH determination ~!er
poor m . d'1cator because of the laISa
change of hydrogen- ion concentrat~g
•on
needed to show a change in pH. Th
wells which exhibited the largest i c
. . n
crease m concentrat10n of other io
showed a slight decrease in pH. Th~
was expected because of the reported ,
production of carbon diox ide in fill
area. Carbon dioxide in water pro.
duces carbonic acid, which would de.
crease the pH.
Nitrates-under anaerobic condj.
tions nitrates are reduced to nitrites
which may be further reduced either t~
ammonia by a few bacteria or to nitro.
gen gas which escapes to the atmos.
phere. These data show a complete
utilization of nitrates from the ground
I
'..Vater. This reduction is assumed to be
the result of the anaerobic environ.
ment that probably exists throughout
the fill area. However, the nitrates be.
gan to reappear at some distance from j
the fill area. The processes and reason
involved for the decrease and subse.
quent increase in nitrates are not fully
understood at this time.
Chlorides-the chloride- ion determi·
nation was the most sensitive param-
eter used. Wells in the center of the
refuse area showed an increase of over
SO times the chloi:ide concentrations
found in the native water. The chlo-
ride ion is perhaps the most suitable
indicator of leaching from a refuse
dump because: it is easily measured,
 INFLUENCE OF SANITARY LANDFILL
APr.1967
. ot readily absorbed by soil forma-
1~ ns is not altered by biological proc-
11on' and cons1"derabl e quantities
. . may
csseS, .
present m refuse . . alkalinity at some wells downstream.
be specific Condiictance~sp_ecific con-
d ctance, which is · indicative of the
utal concentration of dissolved ions, is
to valuable too 1 m. .
companng groun d
arater qualities. Although specific
'~nductance does not indicate which
~ons are present in the samples, it
~ernonstrated marked quality changes
through the fill area. The conductance
of the water near the center of the
fill increased as much as three times
that of the native water.
Hardness-decreases in total and cal-
cium hardness were indicated across
the pond located just downstream from
the fill area. During the summer the
algae-laden pond would be expected
to contribute to these decreases in
hardness. Algal growth is dependent
upon inorganic materials such as phos-
phate, ammonia, nitrate, and carbon
dioxide ; therefore, these materials
would be extracted from the pond vva-
ter. T he utilization of carbon diox ide
by the algae might be expected to re-
duce tile total hardness if the pH were
raised sufficiently to cause calcium car-
bonate precipitation. During the win-
ter, when an ice cover is formed, this
action would be halted and the concen-
trations of the leached materials may
be expected to increase. Therefore,
with ex isting conditions at the Brook-
ings landfill, hardness could be con-
sidered to be an unreliabl e indicator
to show persistence of leached ions
from the landfill, but valuable for de-
termining the influence of the pond.
Alkalinity-alkalinity was similarly
influenced by the presence of the pond.
467
Precipitation of calcium carbonate in
the pond would occur at the high pH
noted, thus explaining the decrease in
Continuing Studies
While the selection of the location
of the well points was made in hope
of being able to follow the major fl.ow
of the chemical concentration, it was
recognized that the wells may not
have been located in the direct fl.ow
line that is established by the hydraulic
gradient. Therefore, additional wells
were installed during the summer and
fall of 1965. A sampling program to
define the areal extent of the leached
ions in the ground water and the sea-
sonal variation of this quality influence
has been undertaken, including the
wells at additional locations. Specific
conductance, sodium, chlorides, and
hardness were selected as quality indi-
cators.
Figures 5 and 6 present preliminary
data in the form of isoconcentrational
lines of total hardness and specific con-
ductance. These figures were de-
veloped from data collected in Decem-
ber 1965 and include results from the
additional wells. The water table con-
tours are superimposed on the figures
to aid in interpretation. It can be
noted that the travel of the leached ions
is restricted to the direction of the
fl.ow of the underground water. The
lateral dispersion of the leached ma-
terials is not extensive, but mostly
contained in a narrow band of ground
water which fl.owed from the fill area.
It can be seen that well 22 appears to
be within the realm of influence of the
pond, although it is in almost a direct
468 J. R . AN DER SE N & J. N. DOR N BUS H lour. Aww-1

flow line downstream from well num- The following preliminary conclusio

I
ber 14, where highest specific conduct- were drawn: n
ance values were determined. 1. Ground water in the immect·
vicinity of and in direct contact wit~te
Summary and Con~lµsions refuse landfill can exhibit a significa a
. . h . nt
In -.general, the · inf tial study pro- mcrease m t e concentration of d"
. d IS.
vided information on the utilization of so1ve d mmerals as etermined by sp
an inactive gravel mining area for cific conductance measurements. The~
refuse disposal. The area was charac- increases may be as great as three

'. \
'-2'?,j' •
0
', 200 400
\
\
Scale in Feet
\

Fig. 5. Isoconcentrational Lines of Ground Water Hardness, Dec. 1965

The dashed lines are gromid water elevation. The solid contoitrs are hardness, mg/I
as CaC0 3 • The dots are w ells. I soconcentrational lines of hardness of the gro1111d
water were developed from analytical data of samples from the wells shown. A rela·
tively narrow zone of increased hardness originated from the active fill area and
moved downstream w i'.th the pond infiuencing the general pattern.

terized by the gravel pits penetrating
a high water table. The study indi-
cated · that the ground water leaving
the 160-acre disposal site was not seri-
ously impaired. Long-term trends or
predictions are not, as yet, possible.
times that of the ground water not ex· ,
posed to the fill operation.
2. The algae-laden pond located im· '
mediately downstream and receiving
ground waters from the fill area is an
important facto r in reducing the hard-
 I N FLUENCE OF SA N ITARY LANDFILL 469
,ipr.1967
and alkalinity of these waters dur- ions, the aging of the deposited refuse,
ucss
·ug the summer. . . and climatic variation .
1
3 The three most s1g111ficant param- Acknowledgments
r~ of those utilized in th~~ investiga-
ete . d" . h . . . The authors wish to acknowledge the
tion for 111 1cat111i; t ti· v~natldon mf
1
ound water qua 1ty are, 111 or er o assistance of James H. McCormick,
f~portance, chloride, sodium, and spe- who was supported by a traineeship
:fic conductance. These parameters from USPHS. Recognition is ex-
~:ay be significant only for the de- tended to Richard J. Sawinski for the
cribed study and may not be so for work reported on the continuing stud-
~ther areas which have a dissimilar ies which are sustained by the South

• \'&xi:>\)\)
·.s •
'
0 200 400
I I I \
Scale in Feet
'
Fig. 6. Specific Conductance Variation of the Ground Water, Dec. 1965
The da shed lines are ground water elevation. The solid contours are specific con-
d11cta11ce, m-icronihos at 25°C. The dots are w ells. lsoco'llcentratioual l-i'lles of specific
conductance, developed from the a'/lalytical data of samples from the wells shown,
reveal m a:rinmm ion cot1centratio11s in the im111ediate vicinity of the active fill area
with reduced concentrations in the downstream direction.

native ground water quality or soil Dakota Water Resources Institute.

types that have different capacities for Appreciation is due the officials of
the retention of the ions. ) Brookings whose cooperation and in-
4. Long-range studies appear justi- terest made this study posisble. The
fied to determine the effect of the land- work was conducted by the Civil En-
fill on ground water quality in relation gineering Department of South Da-
to the· extent of the travel of the leached kota State University.
470 J. R. AN DER SEN & J. N. DORNBUSH

References tary Engineering Center C' .

Ohio (1961) . ' incinna
l. R epor t on the In vest iga tion of Leaching 5. Proce~dings-Natio nal Conference
of Ash D11.mps. S ta te \;yater Pollution So lid vVaste R esea 1:ch. American p
Control Boa rd P11b'. "No. 2, Sacramento, be \i\Tor ks A ssoc1atton, Chicago uh,
09
Calif. ( 1952) .. ·: 6. Sta ndard M eth ods for th e E.1:aininati~)
2. R eport on th e lnvcs tii;ation of L eaching
of a Sanitary Landfill. State W a ter
Hl ater and f11astewater.
AWWA, and WPCF. New York (II
l\P;
Pollution C~ntrol Board Pub. No. 10, ed., 1960). lib
Sacramento, Calif. (1954) . 7. 'WESTIN, F. C. Soil S11.rvey, Brookj
3. Effects of R ef11se Ditmps on Gro11.nd f1Va- Co11.nty, South Dakota. US G "a
. .
ment P rmtmg Offi1ce, W ashingtonovern
D
ter Quality. State 'Nater Pollution
Control Board Pub. No. 24, Sacra-
( 1959) . ' .c.
8. JORG ENSEN, Do N ALD. R eport of fov .
mento, Calif. ( 1961).
gatwn. of t I1e GeoI ogy and Slral/es1i.
4. Proceedings of 1961 S y111posimn Ground. Gro11.11d vVaters at the Broo /1ings S ~
vVater C ontami11atio11. Technical Re- tary L011dfill. Civil Engineering n:"~
port No. W61 -5, Robert A. Taft Sani- South Dakota State Univ. (1965). p

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