In the solid waste (SW) disposal sites, in particular at the unlined, but also at lined facilities that are prone to failure, the vadose zone monitoring should comprise besides the natural vadose zone beneath the landfill, also the anthropogenic vadose zone, i.e. the waste layer and pore solutions in the landfill. The vadose zone screening along the vertical profile of SW facilities with use of direct invasive soil-core and soil-pore liquid techniques shows vertical downward redistribution of inorganic (macroconstitutents and heavy metals) and organic (PAHs) contaminant loads in water infiltrating through the waste layer. These loads can make ground water down-gradient of the dump unfit for any use. To avoid damage of protective/reactive permeable barriers and liners, an installation of stationary monitoring systems along the landfill profile during the construction of a landfill, which are amenable to generate accurate data and information in a near-real time should be considered to provide an early alert in case when the chemical composition of pore solution percolating downward the waste profile shows unfavorable transformations, which indicate an excessive contaminant load approaching ground water. The problems concerning invasive and stationary monitoring of the vadose zone in SW disposal facilities has been discussed at the background of monitoring data and permeable protective/reactive barriers considered for use.
