Experiment No.

1
SOIL WASHING

A Laboratory Report
ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT 2 LABORATORY

Group 1

Submiited to:

Date Submitted: December 17, 2018

 INTRODUCTION

Heavy metal contamination of soils by anthropogenic sources is a well –

documented global problem. Sources include, but are not limited to, vehicle emissions,
lead – based paints, industrial emissions, and battery reclamation activities. These
pollutants can often pose serious human health risks is toxic levels are reached and
direct or indirect ingestion occurs. There are a number of different processes for soil
remediation, each employing a distinct technique for removing contaminants from soil.
These are encapsulation, air sparging, bioremediation, and soil washing.
Encapsulation ensures that contaminants cannot spread any further. The most
common technique of encapsulation is to mix the contaminated soil with lime, cement
and concrete. Air sparging is indicated when soil has been contaminated by toxic
gases or vapors. Bioremediation is an in situ remediation technique that uses a
biological mechanism rather than a mechanical method of filtering for removing
contaminants.
One of the soil remediation processes that provides a cost effective and
environmentally proactive alternative is soil washing. Soil washing is a technology that
uses liquids (usually water, sometimes combined with chemical additives) and a
mechanical process to scrub soils. The soil washing process separates the
contaminated fine soil (silt and clay) from the coarse soil (sand and gravel). When
completed, the smaller volume of soil, which contains the majority of the fine silt and
clay particles, can be further treated by other methods (such as incineration or
bioremediation) or disposed of according to state and federal regulations. The clean,
larger volume of soil is not toxic and can be used as backfill.
This experiment aimed to evaluate soil washing technique of a lead (Pb)
contaminated soil taken from the sources (residential and school). The process will
use a diluted nitric and phosphoric acids with 3M concentrations respectively as an
acid wash to remove or leach out Pb2+ from the soil. Further, physical separation
processes such as sieving and modified filter press will be applied.
OBJECTIVES
To evaluate soil washing technique of a lead (Pb) contaminated soil taken from
two sources (residential and school). Specifically, it aims to:
a. Quantitatively evaluate the initial condition of contaminated soil (moisture
content and Pb concentration).
b. Provide comparative assessment on the status of industrial and school Pb –
contaminated soil.
c. Evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed soil washing method by
quantitatively determine the final Pb concentration after washing.

MATERIALS CHEMICALS
Siever - Nitric acid
Cheesecloth - Phosphoric acid
Wood
Distilled water
Plastic containers
Shovel

METHODS

Sample Preparation
1. Gather soil samples from canals of residential and school area.
2. Dry the gathered soil samples and measure out moisture content.
3. Pre - digest 0.25 – 0.30 grams of sample with 10mL of aqua regia (concentrated
HNO3: concentrated HCl with 1:3 ratio) by reacting it for 24 hours in ambient
temperature and digest it by heating for 10 minutes at 145℃.
4. Filter and dilute the supernatant to 25mL of distilled water and read initial
concentration by the Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (FAAS).
Soil Washing Process
1. The remaining soil samples will be physically separated by sieving with
decreasing mesh particle size (#230, #120, #60, #35, and #10).
2. The #10 mesh sieved – soil sample will be washed three times: tap water (twice)
and distilled water (once). The washings will be collected twice to be read at
the FAAS for determination if the Pb was carried with the washings.
3. A sample of 5 grams will be acid leached with 50mL of 3M nitric and phosphoric
acid. The purpose of this is to leach out remaining Pb contaminants on the soil
and assess which is the better leaching acid. The solution will be filtered and
the supernatant will now be termed as the leachate.
4. The leachate will be read to the FAAS to determine its leaching capacity. The
remaining soil samples will be pressed with a cheesecloth and wood and will
be termed as cake residue.

DATA AND RESULTS

Residential sample from School sample from USTP,

Bulua, Cagayan de Oro City Cagayan de Oro City

Figure 1. Soil samples

Table 1. Weight of soil samples
Soil sample Weight Weight after Weight after Weight after Percent
initial, g sieving, g washing (wet drying, g difference,
sample), g %
Residential 585.60 129.73 164.42 98.0 27.9
School 271.90 178.48 135.4 63.02 95.6
The table above shows the decrease of the soil sample by 28% for the
residential soil sample and 96% for the school soil sample. This implies that the soil
type of the school soil sample dissolves in water. It can be judged also based from its
appearance and color that it is clay type. While, the residential soil is sandy.
Furthermore, the particle size of the samples are 2.00mm (No. 10 mesh) (Merck,
2018).

Table 2. Moisture of soil samples, mean data

Soil Weight, g % moisture, % Time, min. Drying rate, %/min.
sample
Residential 2.001 2.53 1.53 0.03
School 2.005 6.67 2.97 0.03
`The table implies that because of the clay characteristic of the school soil
sample it has a higher moisture than the residential soil sample. The drying rate implies
the rate of removal of water from the sample.

Table 3. Initial concentration of Pb on the soil samples

Soil Weight, g Volume acid, Initial R2 of Pb standards
sample mL concentration, (coefficient of
mg/L determination)
RS1 0.26 10 0.413 0.995545
RS2 0.30 10 0.407
SS1 0.25 10 0.132
SS2 0.28 10 0.119

R - squared is a statistical measure of how close the data are to the fitted regression
line. It is also known as the coefficient of determination. It implies that the Pb standards
used are pure and accurate. The table above confirmed the presence of Pb in the soil
samples with an average concentration of 0.41ppm and 0.13ppm from 0.25-0.30
grams soil samples.

Table 4. Acid leaching parameters

Code Weight, g Volume acid, mL Leaching parameters
RN 5.05 50 Revolutions per minute = 165
RP 5.08 50 Leaching time = 5 hours
SN 5.16 50 Acid concentration = 3M
SP 5.08 50

Where: RN – Residential Nitric; RP – Residential Phosphoric; SN –School Nitric;

SP – School Phosphoric

Table 5. Pb concentration of leachate

(to be filled up)

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

Calculation for Pb concentration of the total weight of soil samples

The Pb concentration of the soil samples is calculated by the equation:
Pb concn (mg/L) = A × B
Where A is the total weight of soil sample: representative sample ratio and B if the
concentration of the representative soil sample.

Sample Calculation
98.0
Pb concn (mg/L) = × 0.41mg/L = 143.5 mg/L
0.28
Table 6. Initial Pb concentration of the soil samples
Soil sample Wt sample total, g Initial Pb concentration, mg/L

Residential 98.0 143.5

School 63.02 31.51

The table above shows that the sample from the residential area has the higher
Pb concentration. Some of the cause of this high Pb content are: automobiles in
residential areas produce leaded emissions that broadcast lead particles onto
roadsides and yards. These emissions, combined with chipping lead-based paint on
home exteriors, contaminate the soil surrounding houses, garages, and other
structures. Furthermore, lead was used as plumbing solder for pipes in structures built
before 1978. Water that sits in these pipes may absorb lead and contaminate
underground soil (Sustainable Resources Center, 2018).

Calculation for the assessment of the leaching capacity of acids

To assess the leaching capacity of the acids, the percent difference equation
will be used:
|𝐴−𝐵|
% Difference = 𝐴+𝐵 × 100
2

Where A is the final Pb concentration of the total weight and B is the initial Pb
concentration of the total weight.
(to be filled up)
 CONCLUSIONS
A modified soil washing process was used to remediate lead (Pb) contaminated
soils from residential and school areas. It was found out that the residential area has
the higher Pb concentration compared to the school which means that the soil can
pose great risk on waterways since the soil is collected from a canal on both areas.
The process also used physical separation techniques to separate fine from coarse
soil size. To remove Pb from soil, an acid leaching experiment was conducted (not
confirmed, lack results).

REFERENCES
[1] Chu, C.Y. and Ko, T.H. (June 2018). Evaluation of Acid Leaching on the Removal
of Heavy Metals and Soil Fertility in Contaminated Soils. Hindawi. Journal of
Chemistry. Volume 2018, Article ID 5036581, DOI:
10.1155/2018/5036581
[2] Merck. (2018). Particle Size Conversion Table. Retrieved from:
https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/chemistry/stockroom-reagents/learning-
center/technical-library/particle-size-conversion.html (Date Retrieved: 12/16/18)
[2] New York State DOH. (April 2010). Sources of Lead. Retrieved from:
https://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/lead/sources.htm#consumer (Date
Retrieved: 12/15/18)
[3] Sustainable Resources Center, Inc. (2018). Sources of Lead in the Home
Environment. Retrieved from: http://www.src-mn.org/sources-of-lead-house (Date
Retrieved: 12/13/18)
[4] United States Environmental Protection Agency. (1992). A Citizen's Guide to Soil
Washing, EPA, OSWER, Washington, DC, EPA/542/F-92/003.