Potentials of bentonite enhanced termite mound soil for bottom lining in waste containment system

Abstract

The sole purpose of a compacted landfill liner is to contain and mitigate the impact of leachate on the environment. This research assessed the engineering properties of bentonite enhanced termite mound mixture to ascertain their suitability as an alternate landfill liner. The mixture of mound soil and bentonite was proportioned by percentage weight as (100:0), (95:5), (90:10) and (85:15) respectively. The compaction analysis reveals an optimum moisture content ranging from 13.80% to 18.52% and a maximum dry density that varied from 1.72 g/cm 3 to 1.88 g/cm 3. The hydraulic conductivity result of 15% bentonitemound soil mixture (0.23 x 10-9 m/s) established hydraulic conductivity less than 1 x 10-9 m/s, which satisfied the criteria for landfill liner. Hence, a mixture of 15% bentonite enhanced mound soil is found suitable as an alternate bottom liner.

The utilization of bentonite enhanced termite mound soil mixture as filter for the treatment of paint industrial effluent

“…The rise in human population growth across the globe without sustainable control measures had resulted in a vast volume of waste generated per day. The effective management of these generated wastes is a perpetual challenge in both developed and developing countries [1,2]. The significant growth of manufacturing industries in Nigeria has contributed to the high volume of generated effluents which has impacted the environmental resources due to the indiscriminate and unsanctioned discharge of untreated effluents into surface water bodies.…”

Application of Termite Mound-Bentonite Mixture as Bottom Liner for Industrial Waste Containment

“…Paint Industrial Wastewater (PIWW) used for this research work was collected from the manufacturing plant of a paint company located in Lagos state. According to (Opafola et al, 2020), bentonite used is a montmorillonite dominated mineral, yellowish-brown in colour with 20.1% sand, 20.4% silt and 59.5% clay. The reddishbrown mound contains mainly of quartz as the dominant mineral, 87.5% sand, 2.3% silt and 10.2% clay.…”

“…Landfills are holistically planned containment systems, built to mitigate the effect of solid and hazardous wastes on environmental resources and human health. Both developed and developing countries are challenged with the comprehensive management of daily generated wastes (Opafola et al, 2020;Opafola et al, 2021). Landfilling systems are classified based on level of control as low (semi controlled facility), Medium (controlled facility), medium-high (engineered facility) and high (state-of the-art facility).…”

“…However, the engineering capabilities of mound soil as a bottom liner to mitigate the impact of leachate to the environment are yet to be explored which explains the novelty of the research. This research is based on the recommendation of (Opafola et al, 2020). The characterization of engineering properties of bentonite-mound soil revealed that the blend of 15% bentonite is suitable for the design of liner in a waste containment system.…”