Physicochemical and Biological Properties of Municipal Solid Wastes in Visakhapatnam Municipality of Andhra Pradesh, India

The present study was undertaken in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh, which occupies 545 km² and lies between 17° 41′ 12.5340" N latitude and 83°13′ 6.5388" E longitude. Municipal solid waste (MSW) samples were collected from seven landfill sites i.e. Cheemalapalli, Arilova, Gajuwaka, Seethammadhara, Kapuluppada, Bheemili and Anakapalle of Visakhapatnam city, Andhra Pradesh, India. The present study was carried out to assess the physicochemical and biological properties of MSW landfill sites in Visakhapatnam city. The highest pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon and C/N ratio in values in MSW samples were observed at the surface layer than the sub-surface layers. The pH of MSW in different landfill sites was found to be neutral to alkaline and EC of MSW were non-saline in nature. Sub-surface layer contains higher nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium and sulphur content than the surface layer in MSW samples. No particular trend was followed in potassium content with respect to the depths in MSW samples chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biological oxygen demand (BOD) values ranged between 119 to 202 and 77 to 153 mg kg^-1, respectively. Surface layer contains higher COD and BOD than the sub-surface layer in MSW samples. Sub-surface layer contains high zinc content than surface layer in MSW, values of zinc were within the critical limits. Surface layer contains high zinc, iron and lead content than sub-surface layer in MSW samples. The content of zinc, iron and lead were found within the critical limits. Whereas, no particular trend was observed for copper, manganese. cadmium, chromium and nickel in solid wastes with respect to the depth, however content of these elements was found within the critical limits at all the landfill sites.