The solid waste management has emerged as one of the most widely debated environmental agendas of the 21st century and one of the prominent challenges in the contemporary times. The subject requires urgent and immediate attention before the situations turns from bad to worse and aggravates beyond control. The focus and need for appropriate solid waste management largely stems from the concern over the environmental challenges posed by the rising waste generation and need to have an efficient waste management solution for a clean sustainable environment.Per capita generation of wastes in Local Self Governments in Kerala is higher than those in other States due to the peculiar consumption pattern in the State. Plastic wastes and ewastes are on the increase. High water table areas particularly in the coastal region and in low lying areas pose a technological challenge. Though all the five city corporations and 27 out of 60 Municipalities have already been completed the construction of Solid Waste Processing Plants and made the Plants operational, they are facing difficulties such as lack of adequate land for disposal of rejects from the compost plants, inadequacies of processing facilities and odour nuisance excessive leachate generation, water pollution and other environmental issues from operation of the compost plants.In this study an attempt is made to investigate the effect of leachate leached out from the solid waste collected from the treatment plant at Chudukadu in Attingal on the soil water system.

Keywords : Municipal solid waste; leachate; percolation; effluent.