ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL QUALITY OF THE POLLUTING LOAD OF LEACHATES FROM THE WILD DUMP OF EL HAJEB CITY (MOROCCO)

The dump in the town of El Hajeb (Morocco) is devoid of a collection and treatment system of the generated brownish effluents known as leachates. In a permeable soil and of a water table circulating in shallow depth, these percolate, after their generation, accumulate at the bottom of the waste and can infiltrate through the ground to reach the underlying water table, thus causing its contamination. Leachate would require, therefore, a specific treatment before their rejection in the receiving environment. This study aims to make a physicochemical characterization of these leachates. To do this, we conducted a series of sampling, from May 2015 to January 2017. During this period, the physicochemical analysis revealed, on the one hand, that it is discharge juice in the acidogenesis phase, conveying a significant pollutant load rich in organic and inorganic matter (COD = 23597.5 ± 595.61 mgO2 L -1 ), in mineral salts (EC = 17.55 ± 0.72 mS cm-1 ) and in nutrient salts (TKN = 888.54 ± 13.53 mg-N L -1 and TP = 139.65 ± 48.89 mg-P L -1 ), concentrations exceed the values allowed by Moroccan and international standards, what makes these effluents toxic to the surrounding environment. By the present study, we incite decisionmakers to manage well effectively the discharges taking into account the risks of the leachates generated.