The use of electrical resistivity tomography and borehole to characterize leachate distribution in Laogang landfill, China

Leachate is a polluting liquid which may cause harmful effects on human health or the environment without a tightly control manner. The leachate management is an important part of the design and operation of bioreactor landfills. To detect the leachate distribution in Laogang Landfill, China, the measurement of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was carried out in three areas with different ages. ERT method proved to be an effective non-invasive geophysical method in bioreactor landfills, and the physical properties of waste samples obtained by boreholes were tested in a laboratory. The correlation between the resistivity and the moisture content was described by Archie’s law. The result shows that the moisture content of fresh waste is inhomogeneous, while that of aged waste increases with depth. A pseudo 3D model of the moisture content was proposed to improve the understanding of leachate distribution and exhibit the accuracy of the ERT method.