Landfill site selection using integrated fuzzy logic and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in lake basins

Protection of water resources from environmental pollutants is one of the most important issues for the sustainable management of basins. Solid waste, an environmental pollutant, must be securely disposed and adverse effects must be minimized. For this, the obligations are determined in the related regulations in Turkey as in the rest of the world. In the present study, landfill site selection was performed using fuzzy-AHP and GIS integration for Burdur Lake basin, SW Turkey. There are many lakes, ponds, surface waters, and important groundwater aquifers in the study area and solid wastes are a serious hazard for water quality. Eleven criteria such as aquifer type, groundwater depth, distance from surface waters, land use, aspect, distance from protected areas, curvature, slope, elevation, transport network, and waste production area were evaluated to determine the most suitable areas for landfills. The fuzzy-AHP method was used to assign a weight value to each criterion, and mapping and analysis were performed in GIS environment. According to the obtained results, 4.8% of the study area was determined as the high suitable areas, while 46% and 35.7% were low suitable and unsuitable (constrained) areas, respectively. Two candidate landfill sites were proposed by conducting detailed field studies in the areas designated as highly suitable. In addition, it was determined that the existing solid waste landfill facility is not at an appropriate location and it poses an environmental risk for the lake basin.