Monitoring In Situ Moisture Content of Municipal Solid Waste Landfills

An investigation was conducted to develop a practical approach for in situ moisture content monitoring of municipal solid waste landfills. This paper describes the three phases of investigation: feasibility assessment to identify the most viable technique, laboratory program to quantify limitations, and field application trial. The study concluded that there is no indirect method that can be used in landfills without some difficulty and limitations. However, provided certain limitations are accepted, the use of a neutron probe with in situ access tubes offers the advantages of reliability, ease of measurement, nondestructiveness, repeatability and, most importantly, a large effective sampling volume to achieve a macroscopic-scale moisture content measurement. A practical field installation procedure also is recommended.