Case Study - IN COLLABORATION WITH NAPLES UNIVERSITY (UNIVERSITÀ FEDERICO II DI NAPOLI)
BIOSOILWASHING FOR METAL CONTAMINATED SOIL BIOREMEDIATION
Treated Matrix
Soil
Contaminants
Metals
Location
SIN BRESCIA-CAFFARO
Treatment
BioSoilWashing – Natural surfactants are used to wash the contaminants off from soil
The Site of National Interest (SIN, Sito di Interesse Nazionale ) Brescia-Caffaro is a dreaded industrial area in the Lombardy region heavily contaminated with metals and other pollutants.
Biosearch Ambiente, in joint venture with CERMANU, a research institute for the environment lead by Professor Alessandro Piccolo of Università Federico II of Naples, has conducted a sperimentation test aiming to the remediation of the area.
The experiment simulates a BIOSOILWASHING field intervention that would require a cycle of soil excavation (up to 1 meter deep) and treatment by mixing with an aqueous solution containing natural surfactants; the liquid fraction resulting after washing, containing the pollutants complexed to the washing solution, is sent for purification, while the clean solid fraction is returned to the field.
Below we report the results, showed as metal concentrations before and after the wash.
Reduction was 66,8% for Cu, 49,9% for Zn, 60,4% for Pb, 42,9% for Ni
