Removal of polluted sediment from lake and river bottoms can be costly and time consuming. Ohio Sea Grant researchers are developing a new method using ultrasound and chemical agents that bind to contaminants and render them inactive on the river bottom. The new approach means larger quantities of sediment can be scrubbed more thoroughly with each round of treatment, potentially making pollutant clean up faster and less costly. The overall goal is to treat contaminated sediments right where they are instead of having to dredge them up for treatment or disposal.
Removal of polluted sediment from lake and river bottoms can be costly and time consuming. Ohio Sea Grant researchers are developing a new method using ultrasound and chemical agents that bind to contaminants and render them inactive on the river bottom. The new approach means larger quantities of sediment can be scrubbed more thoroughly with each round of treatment, potentially making pollutant clean up faster and less costly. The overall goal is to treat contaminated sediments right where they are instead of having to dredge them up for treatment or disposal.
The work of Dr. Linda Weavers and her team at The Ohio State University has recently progressed from experiments where the contaminated sediment samples are mixed into water to one where the sediment has settled into the bottom of a glass column, closer to how they would find contamination in an actual river or lake. Dr. Weaver’s team is using a basic model of a river cross-section in their lab to test the new methods of contamination removal.
“When we looked at our bromide tracer in the water, we saw it spread through the sediment more with ultrasound than without,” said Weavers, professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering at Ohio State. “So if you think about the bigger picture, if we look at our contaminants, we have a better ability to reach more spaces within the contaminated sediment and are able to affect a larger area.”
Continue reading at NOAA.
Photo via NOAA.
