Open dumping refers to the disposal technique of solid waste at a specific place. The place should be in any locality other than a particular facility that the Department of Environmental Quality has permitted. The process comes with the positive and negative impacts to the human sustainability. The entire process contributes the pollution of the environment in a distinct way. This implies that the disposal of the solid waste contaminates the composition of the soil and water. It therefore interferes with the smooth life cycle of the aquatic life and the plants and animal growing on land (Gioannis, 2009). The open dumping pose a threat to the human health in the instances where the rain water drains the solid material I the rivers and dams which supplies human clean water for consumption. The solid material depletes the nutrients required by the plants to grow and at the same time it is detrimental to the existing beauty of nature. For instance, open dumping sites that are visible along roadways and near residential areas are aesthetically unpleasant (Musson, 2009).
At the 1970’s many developments were taking place thus results in high levels of dumping solid waste. The county government took the initiative of establishing and maintaining the landfills. The effectiveness of the process did not come easily because the space was limited compared to the level of solid waste that demand to be dumped. The major problem of the landfills is contributed by the fact that the solid waste undergoes an incomplete decomposition process and setting. It therefore limits space for other disposal to take place. The incomplete decomposition can be expounded by the lack of an effective Leach ate and methane collection systems. In other terms there was no system used in preventing or excluding the flow water from getting into the landfills and facilitates in the decomposition process (Moy, 2008).
The modern landfills are highly regulated and a technically sophisticated. The modern landfill has been improved from the early open dumps. The modern landfill comprises of a well established leachate collection system, a protective liner, a requirement for environmental reporting, equipment that collects the gas (methane collection system), and groundwater monitoring (Salhofer, 2008). Open dumps did not focus on the location they were operated whereas modern landfill pays more attention on the location it is built. The main purpose of identifying the particular location is to ensure it safeguard the human health. In most instances the landfills are constructed in faulty areas, wetlands, and floodplains. Over the past decade the disposal of solid waste materials was being buried in ditches and other burn in order to create space for more waste. On the contrary, the present waste disposal system major in the control of the air and water emission. That is the leachate and liner collection systems prevent contamination of the groundwater (Troschinetz, 2009).
The Marian Landfill conservancy has played a very important role in maintaining the good environment for the citizens of South Africa. The landfill has made some significant adjustment to enable it to make a big impact in the society. It has developed a plant rescue unit entitle the duties of providing indigenous crops to facilitate in the rehabilitation of the entire of Marian Hill. The unit has enabled the municipality to cut down on cost of rehabilitation. It handles the leachate brought by the rainfall getting into contact with the waste (Gioannis, 2009). The landfill water gets treated on-site so as to reduce the harmful content in the water for safety use. It also sets in place a scheme responsible for extracting gas. These entire in place has made the landfill productive in reducing the environmental impact.
References
Gioannis, G. D., Muntoni, A., Cappai, G., & Milia, S. (2009). Landfill Gas Generation After Mechanical Biological Treatment Of Municipal Solid Waste. Estimation Of Gas Generation Rate Constants. Waste Management, 29(3), 1026-1034.
Moy, P. (2008). Options For Management Of Municipal Solid Waste In New York City: A Preliminary Comparison Of Health Risks And Policy Implications. Journal of Environmental Management, 87(1), 73-79.
Musson, S., & Townsend, T. (2009). Pharmaceutical Compound Content Of Municipal Solid Waste. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 162(2-3), 730-735.
Salhofer, S., Obersteiner, G., Schneider, F., & Lebersorger, S. (2008). Potentials For The Prevention Of Municipal Solid Waste. Waste Management, 28(2), 245-259.
Troschinetz, A. M., & Mihelcic, J. R. (2009). Sustainable Recycling Of Municipal Solid Waste In Developing Countries. Waste Management, 29(2), 915-923.
