ERT, SP and IP investigations at waste dump of Savoia di Lucania (Southern Italy)
by
Massimo Bavusi
Istituto di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale (IMAA) of Italian National Research Council (CNR)
Coauthors: Vincenzo Lapenna, Sabatino Piscitelli, Enzo Rizzo, Stefano Vocca.

The aim of this work was the jointly application and integration of different geoelectrical methods for localising possible leachate plumes in a municipal waste landfill in Savoia di Lucania (Southern Italy). The waste dump has a size 70m x 30m and placed anomalously onto a canalized stream. It has been built with a reinforced concrete material material and coated with an High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) liner.

In order to define the geometry of the basin and to detect leakage in the HDPE liner, an Electrical Resistivity Tomographys (ERT) and an Induced Polarization (IP) have been carried out with dipole-dipole configuration. Moreover, two high resolution ERTs with Wenner–Schlumberger configuration have been carried out within the boundaries of the waste basin to detect the leachate level into the refuse.

Finally a Self Potential map (SP) has been performed in the surrounding area and within the waste dump to give a contribute to leachate links localization. As a results of the data collected, it is possible to state that the municipal waste dump has kept good functionality in terms of impermeability. Therefore, the electrical methods are a good tool to create a monitoring system to check throughout the time the waste landfill.

Date received: July 16, 2004

Copyright © 2004 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # caon-10.