The Quezon City Controlled Dumping Facility (QCCDF) has been the ‘main disposal site ofQuezon City, the largest city within Metro Manila since the 1970s. With the huge volume ofwastes received every day and with no protective liner on the old mound and creeks directlyconnecting the facility to Marikina River, the main river system in eastern Metro Manila, surfaceand groundwater contaminations have been a critical concern. The main objective of the study is todetermine the effect of the disposal site on the surface water and groundwater quality by evaluatingthe water quality at different points in and around the landfill. Secondarily, it aims to investigatecorrelations between the water quality parameters as well as determine any seasonal effects on thewater quality. Sampling points from wells on and around the facility were collected for six monthscovering dry and wet season using Horiba water quality monitoring equipment and CHEMetrics V-2000 Photometer. Leachate quality parameters pH, turbidity, DO, and chloride are not affected bythe change in seasons as evidenced by statistical t-tests. Temperature is higher during the wetseason, while TDS is lower at this time which may be attributed to dilution due to rainfall. DO andturbidity in leachate is strongly negatively correlated, while temperature and C1‘ in leachate arepositively correlated. In groundwater, the change in season affects temperature, TDS and chlorideconcentrations. This trend is not evidenced in pH and turbidity. TDS and chloride are correlatedwith each other. Based on the surface water quality measurements, temperature, pH, DO, and TDSare affected by the change in season while turbidity and chloride are not, based on the comparisonof samples taken from different locations. Aside from strong correlation of Cl’ and TDS, as seen ingroundwater, very strong correlations are also observed between Cl’ and DO, and TDS and DO.Using chloride ion as indicator of leachate, the study reveals that the leachate tends to spreaddownward towards Marikina River. Based on the comparison of chloride concentrations near theoutfall of the leachate creek at Marikina River, it can be seen that the release of leachate at the riverimpacts the river as evidenced by an increase in chloride concentration downstream of the outfall. |