Analysis of Leachate Chromium from Solid waste disposal site at Kiteezi, Kampala City (Uganda)

Abstract

Poverty, population growth and high urbanization combined with ineffectual and underfunded governments preventing efficient management of wastes has become of global concern especially in developing countries across the world. Landfilling remains the simplest, cheapest and most cost-effective method of disposing waste, in both developed and developing nations of the world. The most commonly reported danger to human health from these landfills is from the use of surface water and groundwater that has been contaminated by leachate that is discharged into these water bodies from the landfills. Municipal landfill leachates are highly concentrated complex effluents which, among other constituents, contain heavy metals such as cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, and xenobiotic organic substances. The main aim of this study therefore was to assess the levels of chromium in the leachate prior to and after treatment at the solid waste disposal site in Kiteezi and further downstream after discharge. Kampala presently has one landfill site located in Kiteezi, Mpererwe. The Kiteezi landfill is a containment site, 29 acres in size and has been filled with waste since 1996. The site poses a health and environmental risk to the neighbouring communities due to poor planning and management of the site. Process inefficiency of leachate treatment in the plant often causes poorly treated leachate quality at the solid waste disposal site. In this study, water samples collected from the site were assessed to determine their chromium concentrations using the Flame atomic absorption spectrometry method. The results obtained of chromium levels in the samples were found to be within the WHO safety standards for drinking and irrigation water.