Hydraulic Conductivity of Compacted Soil Treated with Biofilm
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 124, Issue 2
Abstract
A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of creating low-permeability waste containment barriers using soil treated with bacteria to produce a plugging biofilm. The effects of exopolysaccharide-producing bacteria on the hydraulic conductivity (k) of a compacted silty sand were determined. Values of k for this soil without bacterial treatment ranged from 10−5 and 10−6 cm/s, depending on molding moisture content. Soil specimens were molded with a bacterial and nutrient solution, compacted at optimum moisture content, permeated with nutrient solution, and tested for k using a flexible-wall permeameter. Significant reductions in k were observed, and most specimens reached a stable final k of 10−8 cm/s. The durability of the biofilm was tested by permeation with saline, acidic, and basic solutions, and by subjecting specimens to wet-dry conditions. In most cases these chemical and physical challenges had little or no effect on the reduced k. Results of these tests demonstrate that biofilm treatment may be a feasible technology for creating waste containment barriers in soil.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Allison, L. E.(1947). “Effect of microorganisms on permeability of soil under prolonged submergence.”Soil Sci., 63, 439–450.
2.
Blenkinsopp, S. A., Herman, D. C., McCready, R. G. L., and Costerton, J. W. (1992). “Acidogenic mine tailings: The use of biofilm bacteria to exclude oxygen.”Appl. Biochem. and Biotechnol., 34/35, 801–809.
3.
Bohn, H. L., McNeal, B. L., and O'Connor, G. A. (1985). Soil chemistry, 2nd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.
4.
Cerini, W. F., Battles, W. R., and Jones, P. H. (1946). “Some factors influencing the plugging characteristics of an oil-well injection water.”Petroleum Technol., Tech. Pub. No. 2028, Am. Inst. of Mining and Matallurgical Engrs., Inc., New York, N.Y., 1–12.
5.
Characklis, W. G., and Marshall, K. C. (eds.) (1990). Biofilms. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.
6.
Cusack, F., Singh, S., McCarthy, C., Grieco, J., de Rocco, M., Nguyen, D., Lappin-Scott, H., and Costerton, J. W.(1992). “Enhanced oil recovery: Three-dimensional sandpack simulation of ultramicrobacteria resuscitation in reservoir formation.”J. Gen. Microbiol., 138, 647–655.
7.
Daniel, D. E., Trautwein, S. J., Boynton, S. S., and Foreman, D. E.(1984). “Permeability testing with flexible-wall permeameters.”Geotech. Testing J., 7(3), 113–122.
8.
Gupta, R. P., and Schwartzendruber, D.(1962). “Flow-associated reduction in the hydraulic conductivity of quartz sand.”Soil Sci. Soc. of Am. Proc., 26, 6–10.
9.
Hart, R. T., Fekete, T., and Flock, D. L.(1960). “The plugging effect of bacteria in sandstone systems.”Can. Mining and Metallurgical Bull., 53, 495–501.
10.
Kalish, P. J., Stewart, J. A., Rogers, W. F., and Bennett, E. O.(1964). “The effect of bacteria on sandstone permeability.”J. Petroleum Technol., 16, 805–814.
11.
Klein, C., and Hurlbut, C. S. (1985). Manual of mineralogy, 20th ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.
12.
Lambe, T. W., and Whitman, R. V. (1969). Soil mechanics. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, N.Y.
13.
Lappin-Scott, H. M., Cusack, F., and Costerton, J. W. (1988). “Nutrient resuscitation and growth of starved cells in sandstone cores: a novel approach to enhanced oil recovery.”Appl. and Envir. Microbiol. 54(6), 1373–1382.
14.
MacLeod, F. A., Lappin-Scott, H. M., and Costerton, J. W.(1988). “Plugging of a model rock system by using starved bacteria.”Appl. and Envir. Microbiol., 54(6), 1365–1372.
15.
Mitchell, J. K. (1993). Fundamentals of soil behavior, 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y.
16.
Mitchell, R., and Nevo, Z.(1964). “Effect of bacterial polysaccharide accumulation on infiltration of water through sand.”Appl. Microbiol., 12(3), 219–223.
17.
Raiders, R. A., McInerny, M. J., Revus, D. E., Torbati, H. M., Knapp, R. M., and Jenneman, G. E.(1986). “Selectivity and depth of microbial plugging in Berea sandstone cores.”J. Industrial Microbiology, 1, 195–203.
18.
Rochkind-Dubinsky, M. L., Sayler, G. S., and Blackburn, J. W. (1987). Microbiological decomposition of chlorinated aromatic compounds. Marcel Dekker, New York, N.Y.
19.
Shaw, J. C., Bramhill, B., Wardlaw, N. C., and Costerton, J. W.(1985). “Bacterial fouling in a model core system.”Appl. and Envir. Microbiol., 49(3), 693–701.
20.
Skempton, A. W.(1954). “The pore-pressure coefficient A and B.”Geotechnique, London, England, 4, 143–147.
21.
Taylor, S. W., and Jaffe, P. R.(1990a). “Biofilm growth and the related changes in the physical properties of a porous medium. 1: Experimental investigation.”Water Resour. Res., 26(9), 2153–2159.
22.
Taylor, S. W., and Jaffe, P. R.(1990b). “Biofilm growth and the related changes in the physical properties of a porous medium. 3: Dispersivity and model verification.”Water Resour. Res., 26(9), 2171–2180.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 124 • Issue 2 • February 1998
Pages: 120 - 127
Copyright
Copyright © 1998 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Feb 1, 1998
Published in print: Feb 1998
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.