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Title: A water balance study of two landfill cover designs for semiarid regions

Abstract

The results from several field experiments on methods to control soil erosion, biointrusion, and water infiltration were used to design and test an enhanced landfill cover that improves the ability of the disposal site to isolate buried wastes. The performance of the improved cover design in managing water and biota at the disposal site was compared for 3 yr with that obtained from a more conventional design that has been widely used in the industry. The conventional cover design consisted of 20 cm of sandy loam topsoil over 108 cm of a sandy silt backfill, whereas the improved design consists of 71 cm of topsoil over a minimum of 46 cm of gravel, 91 cm of river cobble, and 38 cm of sandy silt backfill. Each plot was lined with an impermeable liner to allow for mass balance calculation of water dynamics. Results over a 3-yr period, including 2 wet yr, demonstrated that the improved design reduced percolation of water through the landfill cover by a factor of >4 over the conventional design. This decrease in percolation was attributed to a combination of increased evapotranspiration from the plant cover and the effect of a capillary barrier embedded in the enhancedmore » cover profile in diverting water laterally in the cover. The field data are finally discussed in terms of its usefulness for waste management decisions to be made in the future for both new and existing landfills at Los Alamos, NM, and at other semiarid waste disposal sites.« less

Authors:
; ;  [1]
  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM (USA)
OSTI Identifier:
6345634
DOE Contract Number:  
W-7405-ENG-36
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Environmental Quality; (USA)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 19:2; Journal ID: ISSN 0047-2425
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; COVERINGS; PERFORMANCE TESTING; RADIOACTIVE WASTES; GROUND DISPOSAL; DESIGN; EROSION; FIELD TESTS; MONITORING; PERFORMANCE; RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT; SOILS; WATER INFLUX; MANAGEMENT; MATERIALS; RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS; TESTING; WASTE DISPOSAL; WASTE MANAGEMENT; WASTES; 052002* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Disposal & Storage

Citation Formats

Nyhan, J W, Hakonson, T E, and Drennon, B J. A water balance study of two landfill cover designs for semiarid regions. United States: N. p., Web. doi:10.2134/jeq1990.00472425001900020014x.
Nyhan, J W, Hakonson, T E, & Drennon, B J. A water balance study of two landfill cover designs for semiarid regions. United States. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1990.00472425001900020014x
Nyhan, J W, Hakonson, T E, and Drennon, B J. . "A water balance study of two landfill cover designs for semiarid regions". United States. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq1990.00472425001900020014x.
@article{osti_6345634,
title = {A water balance study of two landfill cover designs for semiarid regions},
author = {Nyhan, J W and Hakonson, T E and Drennon, B J},
abstractNote = {The results from several field experiments on methods to control soil erosion, biointrusion, and water infiltration were used to design and test an enhanced landfill cover that improves the ability of the disposal site to isolate buried wastes. The performance of the improved cover design in managing water and biota at the disposal site was compared for 3 yr with that obtained from a more conventional design that has been widely used in the industry. The conventional cover design consisted of 20 cm of sandy loam topsoil over 108 cm of a sandy silt backfill, whereas the improved design consists of 71 cm of topsoil over a minimum of 46 cm of gravel, 91 cm of river cobble, and 38 cm of sandy silt backfill. Each plot was lined with an impermeable liner to allow for mass balance calculation of water dynamics. Results over a 3-yr period, including 2 wet yr, demonstrated that the improved design reduced percolation of water through the landfill cover by a factor of >4 over the conventional design. This decrease in percolation was attributed to a combination of increased evapotranspiration from the plant cover and the effect of a capillary barrier embedded in the enhanced cover profile in diverting water laterally in the cover. The field data are finally discussed in terms of its usefulness for waste management decisions to be made in the future for both new and existing landfills at Los Alamos, NM, and at other semiarid waste disposal sites.},
doi = {10.2134/jeq1990.00472425001900020014x},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6345634}, journal = {Journal of Environmental Quality; (USA)},
issn = {0047-2425},
number = ,
volume = 19:2,
place = {United States},
year = {},
month = {}
}