Assessment of groundwater pollution at industrial and municipal waste disposal facilities in the Republic of Belarus

Le résumé fourni par la source

This article examines the long-term trends in the formation, accumulation, and disposal of industrial and municipal waste in the Republic of Belarus. The rates of waste generation, the overall increase in the amount of waste produced, the share of waste recovered, and the structure of accumulated waste were explored. Using the data on selected waste storage and disposal facilities, their impacts on the levels of groundwater pollution were investigated, along with the conditions and duration of waste storage, the subgrade systems for waste placement, and the systems for collection and drainage of atmospheric water. Some of them had problems with the design and organization, such as non-compliance with established hydrogeological requirements and the partial or complete absence of protective impermeable screens to prevent leachate from flowing offsite. The data on the geological and hydrogeological conditions were compiled, summarized, and represented schematically. The lithological and filtration properties of the vadose zone rocks, which determine the vulnerability of groundwater to surface contamination at the studied facilities, were identified. Based on the results of the local groundwater monitoring in 2018–2023, the contamination levels of the Quaternary aquifers and systems were assessed by calculating the concentration coefficients reflecting both background water quality and water quality standards for centralized and decentralized water supplies.

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