Differencec between sanitary landfills and open dumps
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Answer:
1. Sanitary landfills are only set up by the authority of the local government or the state. It is not a personal or individualized decision, but a societal one. The religious leaders, the non-governmental organisations and the public must all be consulted before it is set up.
Nevertheless, it is different for open dumping. This waste disposal method is not processed officially by the relevant authority. Instead, people set up their own open dumping sites outside their houses or a common dumping site that is left open for the small organisms such as rats and flies to make habitat. These open dumping sites can be found anywhere in people’s compounds, market places, and even public places like schools and churches.
2. Soil is a major component of sanitary landfill given that it is applied daily or on a regular basis to keep bad odors and pests off the land surface. This ensures that the land near the landfill can be used by others without pollution of the air or infestation by pests.
For open dumping sites, however, there is no soil applied. Open dumps are just holes dug to accumulate waste and no amount of operational activity such as application of compact soil is done. Hence, they pose a greater danger to the environment in terms of bad odors containing harmful contaminants such as methane.
3. Monitoring is a key part for any sanitary landfill. Monitoring is so important to an extent that engineers are contracted to oversee the establishment of the site. With the application of the compressed clay in the bottom layer, engineers are able to monitor whether there is any water seeping from the ground up to the landfill or the landfill down to the ground since this would cause a health hazard to the underground water.
In the second layer, the engineers monitor the drainage of all liquids accumulated in the landfill. Proper drainage is essential to ascertain there is no water seeping to the bottom layer and subsequently to the underground water. Methane gas in its raw form is toxic to the environment since upon release to the atmosphere, it contributes to global warming and contamination of the nearby environment. Therefore, it is kept in check by fitting the landfill with a gas collection system.
For open dumps, there is no monitoring at all. Once a pit has been dug, there is absolutely no monitoring of what is disposed of and in what manner. It is for this reason that large open pits have led to contamination of the land and water supply. Moreover, open dumps do not have treatment plants for the treatment of liquids or gases from the dump site.
4. Open dumps are small in size and are mostly used as domestic waste disposals. Open dumps are relatively shallow going to a few feet deep. Due to this, they are more in number compared to sanitary landfills. Approximately every household has an open dump in most countries.
On the other hand, sanitary landfills are big. One of the biggest ones is in California and is about 500 feet deep. It is home to over 40% of the state’s waste management system. Landfills take a long time to dig up as opposed to open dumps and involve a lot more than human labor. For example, heavy machinery is needed to get to the deep depths. So, the landfills serve communities and states rather than a few individuals.
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