Groundwater quality in the surroundings of Mafraq landfill, Jordan / Grundvattenkvalité i närheten av Mafraq-deponin, Jordanien
The aim of this study was to gather information about the Mafraq landfills sanitary status as well as assessing its leachate quality and the groundwater quality in its surroundings. The Mafraq landfill is located upon one of Jordan’s most important groundwater aquifer making it a possible threat to the water quality. The aquifer is used for drinking and irrigation purposes. Groundwater quality was therefore compared with drinking and irrigation water quality standards. Based on the result of this study, the Mafraq landfill clearly does not fulfill the requirements to be classified as sanitary. The leachate is free to interact with the groundwater aquifer. Furthermore, the leachate analysis showed that the soil under the landfill is contaminated. Groundwater from various wells is unsuitable for household purposes due to its high concentration of fluorine and mercury. This may cause severe health damages to humans if indigested. The groundwater from nearly all wells was found to have slight to moderate restrictions for its use as irrigation water due to high salinity and sodium, and toxic concentrations of chloride and sodium. The restrictions imply that special care should be taken when selecting crop and irrigation management in order to maximize crop yield.