Evaluation of Leachate Contamination Potential of Lagos Dumpsites Using Leachate Pollution Index

Abstract

Leachate generated from municipal solid wastes is a threat to surface and groundwater integrity. The leachate contamination potential of four different dumpsites in Lagos, Nigeria, that is Soluos dumpsite (SD), Ewu Elepe dumpsite (EED), Epe dumpsite (ED) and Olusosun dumpsite (OD) were evaluated using leachate pollution index (LPI) technique which is a tool for quantifying pollution potential of leachate generated from dumpsites. The LPI values were computed to be 17.85, 16.87, 18.99 and 23.54 for SD, EED, ED and OD respectively. These LPI values were compared with the standard and it was revealed the LPI values of all the dumpsites evaluated were above the standard which indicated the leachates generated from these dumpsites are contaminated and remediation measures should be put in place. The LPI value is also a useful tool to prioritise the order of attention, which in this work, OD should be given the first attention.