Visual Identification Of Solid Waste Pollution

Introduction

Solid waste material can be classified as any solid, liquid and gaseous material from either residential or commercial which is no longer in use and is to be discarded, discharged or recycled. The increase in the human population, industrial as well as technology revolutions, waste management has tended to become a bit complex. The manner in which the population grows has led to changing consumption patterns across borders and also placed pressure on waste management services. The amount of pressure placed on waste management services has led to a wide spread inefficiencies that are mostly due to the lack of funds, improper infrastructure and inadequate waste collection services. The inefficient waste management have mostly led to extensive illegal dumping.

Illegal dumping is referred to solid waste disposal of inappropriate manners in typical places such as private and public land, drains, roads rivers mostly areas that is not legally approved for such use. Illegal dumping is an issue which is recognized as a common problem in much of the world. In Britain, clearing waste that is dumped has cost the government millions. In some cases there have been instances where developed countries dumping waste in less developed countries. The South African municipal systems Act 2000 mandate municipalities to provide waste collection, disposal and cleansing services to all the residents within their particular municipal area according to the constitution of the Republic of South Africa. In this report I shall be explaining the types off identification methods for pollution used, the effects the waste on the environment and the people living in it. The purpose will be to also recommend new visual technologies to identify pollution.

Classification of Illegally Dump Sites

Illegal wastes are usually materials that are disposed of to avoid either disposal time or fees and the effort which is required for the proper disposal of waste. This waste material can typically include:

• Abandoned auto parts, automobiles and scrap tyres.
• House hold trash – packing material, paper, kitchen waste, obsolete smaller items.
• Garden waste – grass cutting, tree cutting as well as plants.
• Construction as well as demolition waste – bricks, waste concrete, roofing, lumber.
• Medical waste – hospital and clinic waste, pharmacies and surgeries.
• Bulky waste – furniture, disused domestic appliances.

Illegal Solid Waste Sites

Common waste such as bulky waste, garden refuse and scrap tyres may be illegally disposed of because they are banned from a number of landfills and their proper management can be very costly at most times. Commercial and residential waste may be illegally disposed of in areas that tend to lack or have costly pick up services. Sites that are used to dump illegal waste vary but may include abandoned residential, industrial and commercial buildings, vacant lots in private and public property as well as frequently used roadways and allays.

Some other aspects can also effluence illegal dumping can be poor lighting and inaccessibility of certain areas along railways and rural roads can contribute to illegal dumping. Illegal disposal sites often attract more waste, including potentially hazardous waste such as the likes of asbestos, paints and household chemicals, automotive fluids and industrial and commercial waste.

Sources of Illegal Waste Disposal

It is mostly quite difficult to profile a typical offender who illegally disposes of solid wastes. However such offenders can include the following:

• General hauling contractors and waste management companies.
• Remodelling, roofing, construction, demolition or landscaping contractors.
• Junkyards
• Tyre shops and automobile.
• Scrap collectors
• Local residents

Impacts of Illegal Dumping

Dumed waste has serious implications for both our environment and the quality of life as a whole. Dumped waste tends to contaminate both the soil and water. This occurs when water from the rainfalls seeps through the dumped waste and mixes with substances within the waste and forms a substance known as leachate. Leachate released from waste sites also poses a high risk to the groundwater and surface water if it has not been properly managed. Dumpsites also make the surrounding areas prone to flooding as a component of waste which can block drains, creeks and culverts.

The presence of illegal dumpsite can cause serious health problems for the nearby residents as it is an ideal breeding ground for common diseases such as mosquitoes and rats. Certain respiratory illnesses such as tuberculosis and asthma can also be affected by illegal dumped waste. Illegal dumping does not only affect health and environment but also the quality of life itself, it has adverse effects on the basic human rights of people with the regards to the standard of living. Presence of dumpsites does not only deteriorate the quality of the environment but also breaches human rights as it has an impact on the community pride. Illegal sites that tend to constitute of flammable substances and gases are vulnerable to fires.

Method of Identifying Illegal Dump sites

They are different means and ways to identify illegal dump sites within a particular area. I shall be going through a few of such methods which have been frequently used worldwide and have proved to have worked in terms of identifying and recording of data for future use. The following methods shall be used to identify solid waste sites:

• Aerial photography
• Ground photograph
• Unmanned quad copter.

Aerial photography is one of a few methods used to identify and record of illegal dump sites at a particular area. It is used to scrutinize the ground in certain areas looking for indications of characteristics that could warrant ground trothing. The use of aerial photography can establish a different level of perception for locating dumpsites unlike being on the ground to identify sites. Aerial photography tends to assist in identifying as per the following:

• Visible illegal dumping, open spaces that were not near any road access were scanned for evidence of illegal dumping.
• Road dead ends and vacant lots within house areas are also another point that is identified when using aerial photography.

The data collected when using of aerial photography can be used to show the visibility of the dump site, area and composition of the debris in each dump site that has been identified. When using such a method, the illegal dumped material is mapped and can be grouped into categories for the ease of identification such as municipal waste, asbestos containing material, tyres, industrial solid waste. Ground Photographs has been another means of identify and having a proper record of illegal dumping. Because of the criminal nature of illegal dumpers from participating in surveys or questionnaires set by researchers or from providing honest answers regarding their involvement or rationales for illegal dumping, the identification of such has relied heavily on visual data.

In choosing photographic evidence of this sort of particular activity, an assumption has been made that a subjective interpretation of images tends to be the best means by which to understand the nature of dumping. It is assumed that visual sociology offers a more direct and profound look at the exactly what is being abandoned as trash on our public lands.

Visual identification can assist in the recording of dump sites and can actually show the outlying physical environment that surround them or how they change in size, their shape and content over a particular time period. This shows that once a site has been identified by others as a suitable dumpsite it seems to be a signal to others that this is an appropriate space for future dumping. Unmanned quad copter is a new and more advanced way of monitoring of waste sites. Places such as the United States of America as well as places like Dubai have been investing on such technology of unmanned quad copter to take aerial photos as well as real time videos of dump sites and provide real-time data for the waste management operators.

While such technology is increasing popularity among civilians of which is driven by their entertainment value, drones in other industries are dedicated by their economic value. For the waste management, and mainly the monitoring of waste disposal sites, drone technology offers cost effective, low-risk data acquisition. The great part about drones is that their quite versatile in use, they also provide easily take high – resolution photos and videos from the most crucial angles.

A demonstration was conducted by Gordon Environmental Inc. of which is a company based in New Mexico specializing in landfill engineering and environmental monitoring services. The lightweight drone used could fly for about at least 8. 5 minutes to cover about 58 000 m2 of new landfill. The drone which can’t go higher than 121. 92m as per regulations took a very highly – detailed photo and was able to take a very clear video to catch the area at different angles. This valuable volumetric (photos from certain elevations) would allow the landfill operators to get accurate data about the remaining space within the landfill and with such data could plan further developments accordingly.

This type of technology has started to be recognized and most agencies also resort to unmanned quad copters instead of the costly manned flights that have been previously used to obtain aerial photographs. Waste management can utilize drones on a consistent basis to collect hi-res images of dump sites and even create 3D models for presenting the data. Dubai’s Waste Management Department had started to put plans in place to utilize drones to be able to monitor dumpsites and development projects. The drones were also going to be used to identify litterbugs and even the potential of collecting abandoned garbage left on areas such as the beaches and the dessert. When this initiative was started at Dubai, only a single drone was used as a trail, the waste management intends to acquire more drones if the initiative becomes a success.

In Japan the central government adjusts regulations to help support commercial use of drones; the Ibaraki’s government has begun using drones to monitor the illegal dumping of industrial waste. In the country of China, an even more radical approach of utilizing drones against illegal dumping. An example of such is a power company of which rather than having its workers waste time to go through the risk of climbing pylons to clean power lines barehanded, they have deployed flame-spewing drones to do such work. They fitted drones with flamethrowers and use such drones to burn garbage such as plastic bags, kites and lanterns off the high-voltage power lines.

Advantages and Disadvantages of using Quad Copters

Any system being used has an advantage and disadvantage and that also applies to drones. Drones are devices that are capable of flying and carrying materials above the natural ground. The components of these sorts of devises are communication systems, a ground-based controller, and unmanned aerial equipment. The controller of an unmanned quad copter can be either be automated set of computers or have a human operator. Drones tend to provide useful missions to prevent injuries, accidents and hazards when it involves navigating in an environment that is not suitable for human survival.

Advantages

Drones can be quite useful because of its functionality and efficiency when capturing videos and images. Drones are very useful in the aspect of assisting in doing work which is difficult, dangerous, dull and dirty to be handled by humans. With drones data collection time of dumpsites can be reduced, typical aerial flight limitations are reduced and quicker turnaround of useable data than with the more traditional manned aerial. Before drones, maps were collected using manned planes or satellites. Often now, drone based mapping of dumpsites is considered, largely because of the expected cost saving from using aircrafts. Drones can fly lower than manned aircraft and that means the ground sample distance is much better. This helps to provide imagery with more detail than manned aircraft. Flying lower means often underneath any cloud cover, allowing drones to be collect clear maps even on overcast or cloudy days.

Disadvantage

Drones come with their own disadvantages which tend to affect their efficiency. The government sometimes restrict the use of drones when there is an on-going military training around the particular area. So even though drones have access to large square meters they also can be limited hence not be able to monitor certain area which results to not being able to identify illegal dumping areas. Drones also tend to be difficult to operate when it is raining or very windy which in turn affects the ability for real time monitoring of illegal dumping. Drones are vulnerable to attacks by large birds which confuse the creature with a large creature while navigating the atmosphere and taking of photos and videos.

Conclusion

The has not been much change over the years in terms of identifying and data capturing of illegal dumping. The major change has just been the efficiency of technology and better mapping of dumpsites using the ease of upgraded methods of capturing images and overlooking the restrictions which prevented the accuracy of Information collected. The to the real-time data collection of drones and the ability of using devices that are unmanned, drones have been able to assist with combating of illegal dumpers. Drones have been in some cases effective in deterring and catching illegal dumpers. Drones have proved to be the new kid in the block for easy aerial filming and also still have a long way to develop even better especially in combating illegal dumping. When it comes to their value, the sheer amount of what they can do for such a small cost is going to be a drastic change for the waste managements across the world.