Study on Liner Material Using Red Soil, Bentonite Mixture for Engineered Landfill

Generation of leachate is one of the major pollution problems arising from municipal landfill. Modern landfills must be highly engineered containment systems, designed to minimize the impact of soiled waste on the environment and human health. A liner is an engineered system to contain and control the pollution of the land and water environments surrounding the land disposal operation. The design of a liner, in the case of economically developing countries, will vary depending on a number of factors, including the potential of the landfill polluting the land and water environments, the local hydrogeology and meteorology, and the availability of suitable materials and monetary resources. The main factor affecting the quality of compacted clay liners/covers is its permeability which should not be greater than 1.0 109 m/sec. Due to non-availability of suitable soil, it is necessary to develop alternative material for liners and covers. In the present study Red soil is used as a basic material. The properties of this material are altered by adding bentonite to achieve the required properties of a competent material for landfill liners. Tests were conducted on red soil with 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 % of bentonite clay by weight.