Sains Malaysiana 48(11)(2019): 2463–2472

http://dx.doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2019-4811-16

Assessment of Heavy Metal Attenuation and Mobility in Compacted Soil Columns

(Penilaian Pembantutan dan Kemobilan Logam Berat dalam Turus Tanah Terpadat)

WAN ZUHAIRI, W.Y.* & NURITA, R.

Center for Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Received: 18 April 2019/Accepted: 15 August 2019

ABSTRACT

Groundwater pollution from unlined landfill is a worrying problem nowadays. In order to reduce the pollution, a good soil liner is very important. Natural compacted soil is used to prevent leachate from reaching the groundwater. The soil column study was performed to investigate the retention capability of three soil types in Malaysia, namely marine clay (SBMC), weathered metasediments (HMS) and river alluvium soil (ARA). All soil columns were tested against four types of heavy metals, i.e. lead (Pb), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn). The breakthrough curves show that the SBMC has better retention capability on heavy metals compared to other soils; indicating less migration of heavy metals through SBMC soil column. The affinity of heavy metals for adsorption were also varied with soil types and can be ranked as follow: SBMC (Pb>Cu>Ni ≈ Zn) and HMS/ARA: Zn ≈ Cu>Pb>N. Soil SBMC showed very high resistance to acidic test solution (i.e. high buffering capacity), where the pH values throughout the test were in an alkaline region with the values of pH 8 to 7. The study also discovered that heavy metals entered the soil columns were retained predominantly at the top 30 mm. Engineering applications of these findings show that soil SBMC has a very good potential to function as soil liner material compared to two other soils (ARA and HMS).

Keywords: Breakthrough curves; column experiment; heavy metals; retention profile; soil liner

ABSTRAK

Pencemaran air bawah tanah dari tapak pelupusan sisa tidak berlapik adalah suatu masalah yang membimbangkan pada masa kini. Untuk mengurangkan pencemaran, pelapik tanah yang baik sangat penting. Tanah semula jadi yang dipadatkan digunakan untuk mencegah cecair larut resapan daripada mencemari air bawah tanah. Kajian turus tanah dilakukan untuk mengkaji keupayaan penahanan tiga jenis tanah di Malaysia, iaitu lempung marin (SBMC), tanah metasedimen (HMS) dan tanah aluvium sungai (ARA). Kesemua tanah diuji terhadap empat jenis logam berat, iaitu plumbum (Pb), kuprum (Cu), nikel (Ni) dan zink (Zn). Graf lengkung penembusan menunjukkan bahawa tanah SBMC mempunyai keupayaan penahanan logam berat yang lebih baik berbanding dengan tanah lain. Ini menunjukkan logam berat kurang mengalami migrasi melalui ruang tanah SBMC. Pemilihan logam berat untuk penjerapan juga berbeza-beza dengan jenis tanah dan boleh disenaraikan seperti berikut: SBMC (Pb>Cu>Ni ≈ Zn) dan HMS/ARA: Zn ≈ Cu>Pb>Ni. Tanah SBMC menunjukkan rintangan yang sangat tinggi terhadap larutan berasid (iaitu kapasiti penampan tinggi), dengan nilai pH sepanjang ujian berada dalam keadaan alkali antara pH 8 hingga 7. Kajian ini juga mendapati bahawa logam berat yang memasuki liang tanah mengalami penahanan terutamanya pada bahagian 30 mm teratas. Aplikasi kejuruteraan penemuan ini menunjukkan bahawa tanah SBMC mempunyai potensi yang sangat baik untuk berfungsi sebagai bahan pelapik tanah dibandingkan dengan dua tanah lain (ARA dan HMS).

Kata kunci: Lengkung penembusan; logam berat; pelapik tanah; profil penahanan; ujian turus

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*Corresponding author; email: yaacobzw@ukm.edu.my