Impact of Municipal Solid Waste Landfill Leachate on Soil Properties in the Dumpsite (A Case Study of Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria)

A field study was conducted to investigate the effect of municipal solid waste landfill leachate on soil properties in the dumpsite. Soils samples were randomly taken from the waste dumpsite and away from the waste dump site at a depth of 15cm. pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, available phosphorus, total nitrogen, K, Ca, Na, Mg, Total hardness, Cl, and Sulphate were determined. Data obtained were subjected to statistical analyses of variance (ANOVA). From the results obtained there were marked effects of the leachate on the parameters measured, when compared with those from the control site. These were higher at the waste dumpsite than the control site. And this show that, municipal solid waste landfill leachate considerably degrade the soil quality, the worst being soil organic carbon (7.56g/kg), available phosphorous (24.70mg/kg), Ca (1.79Cmol/kg), K (0.69Cmol/kg), Mg (0.29Cmol/kg), total hardness (0.56Cmol/kg) and sulphate (0.478mg/kg). The implications of these results on soil qualities are discussed. It is concluded that, environmental control measures should be put in place in sitting of waste dumpsite.