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Groundwater Contamination

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Groundwater contamination is nearly always the result of human activity. In areas where population density is high and human use of the land is intensive,groundwater is especiallyvulnerable. Where chemicals or wastes may be released to the environment, either intentionally or accidentally has the potential to pollute ground water. When groundwater becomes contaminated, it is difficult and expensive to cleanup. Ground water can be contaminated by human activities and also natural causes when the effluent from the industries, residential areas and commercial purpose are stored the contaminants can reach the groundwater through activities like spills, discharge or landfills and leakage of the underground storage such as septic tanks. Some substances …show more content…

Most of our household waste is buried in landfills. An important factor in how landfills are built is how they contain waste and prevent waste from contaminating nearby soil and water sources. Leachate is a fluid that has passed through or emerged from the waste in a landfill, picking up a variety of suspended and dissolved materials along the way. In unlined landfills, the leachate continues to leach into the ground and may contaminate groundwater. Many old landfills used a simple clay liner for containing leachate. Newer landfills are required to meet federal and state requirements to prevent environmental contamination. These landfills have sophisticated liner systems often made of heavy-duty, high density polyethylene plastic, where leachate is collected at the bottom. The leachate is typically treated on-site or is pumped out and sent to a local wastewater treatment plant. Treated leachate can be disposed of in a number of ways e.g., discharged to surface waters or recirculated back into the

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