“Analysis of potential sanitary landfill waste disposal sites”; the case of Addis Ababa city
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Date
2009-06
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Addis Ababa Universty
Abstract
Urban population growth together with the development of new industries and commercial centres
generate huge amount of solid waste daily. Like in many developing world cities a rapid population
growth and high rural-urban migration posses many environmental challenges for the Addis Ababa
city. One of these is dry waste management and disposal system. In adequate dry waste management
has resulted in the accumulation of solid waste on open lands, in rivers, in drains and in the living area
of many people, causing a nuisance and foul-smelling pools, environmental pollution through leaches
from piles (water and soil pollution) and burning of waste (air pollution), clogging of drains, and the
possible spread of diseases. This situation is believed to result in poor environmental conditions and an
ever-present risk of epidemics, which in turn present a formidable threat to health and productivity.
The present method of disposal is crude open dumping; hauling the wastes by truck, spreading and
leveling by bulldozer and compacting by compactor bulldozer at the only one dumpsite ‘koshe’. The
dumpsite is getting full; it is partly surrounded by residents and institutions and has no gas control. The
gas generated from landfill causes spontaneous fire and air pollution. It contributes enormous amount
of methane (green house gas) to the atmosphere. The site has low area capacity (25 ha), poor
protection of ground water and surface water pollution. Now, for the time being, the environmental
impact of this disposal sites on human beings, soil, air and water quality makes this issue a subject of
many researchers in addressing the safe way disposal system. Proper disposal site selection of the
waste is a challenging issue that must be addressed adequately. Land filling is one of the common
methods used for waste disposal. GIS (Geospatial Information System) is a computerized tool for
solving environmental problems. It can then be used to optimize the selection process of landfill site.
Through various functionalities, GIS is able to provide a better understanding of the effects of the sites
on the environment.
The objectives of this project are to identify and evaluate the major earth related factors on landfill site
selection, and to describe the methods for proper landfill location estimation. As a case study to the
whole part of Addis Ababa city has been selected to evaluate the candidate locations. The data used
included geologic condition (hydraulic conductivity), soil type distribution, underground water (depth),
surface hydrology (rivers), topographic maps and geomorphology (slope), land use property and
distance from the main road. The data are combined together using DRASTIC procedure on a
commercial GIS software package to locate and visualize the selected site. The paper elaborates all the methodologies used, and the scientifically evaluated results. Finally, this project paper produced a
more recommended suitable landfill sites map for Addis Ababa city. Also the project paper forwarded
a scientifically analyzed recommendation for a previously proposed landfill and existing open dump
site in the city
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Population