Identification of groundwater pollution sources in a landfill site using artificial sweeteners, multivariate analysis and transport modeling.

In this study, sources of groundwater pollution in a landfill site were identified, using artificial sweeteners as chemical tracers, multivariate statistical analysis and a quantitative analysis of the groundwater flow system through particle tracking and transport modeling. The study area, located in northern Italy, hosts an older unlined landfill and a newer lined municipal solid waste landfill placed downstream of the former. Groundwater, surface water, treated wastewater, and leachate samples were collected in March 2017 for analysis of the artificial sweeteners saccharin, cyclamate, acesulfame and sucralose together with major cations and anions, inorganic nitrogen compounds, total phosphorus, COD and some further parameters.

Determination of trigger levels for groundwater quality in landfills located in historically human-impacted areas.

Landfills are one of the most recurrent sources of groundwater contamination worldwide. In order to limit their impacts on groundwater resources, current environmental regulations impose the adoption of proper measures for the protection of groundwater quality. For instance, in the EU member countries, the calculation of trigger levels for identifying significant adverse environmental effects on groundwater generated by landfills is required by the Landfill Directive 99/31/EC.

Pollutant sources in an arsenic-affected multilayer aquifer in the Po Plain of Italy: Implications for drinking-water supply.

In aquifers 160 to 260m deep that used for public water-supply in an area ~150km around the town of Cremona, in the Po Plain of Northern Italy, concentrations of arsenic (As) are increasing with time in some wells. The increase is due to drawdown of As-polluted groundwater (As ≤144μg/L) from overlying aquifers at depths 65 to 150m deep in response to large-scale abstraction for public supply. The increase in As threatens drinking-water quality locally, and by inference does so across the entire Po Plain, where natural As-pollution of groundwater (As >10μg/L) is a basin-wide problem.