Method for Improving Leaching Efficiency of Coastal Subsurface Drainage Systems
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 144, Issue 8
Abstract
Soil salinization is a major and long-standing environmental problem worldwide. Leaching through subsurface drainage systems under ponding conditions has been widely adopted to ameliorate saline soils in coastal areas with shallow groundwater tables. Because the seepage rate decreases by orders of magnitude from the near-drain area to midway between subsurface drains, to achieve a uniform leaching outcome requires a large amount of freshwater. This paper introduces a new method for improving the leaching efficiency by setting up a low-permeability soil layer over the subsurface drain. Numerical simulations of the water flow and solute transport in soils quantify the improved leaching efficiency provided by the new method. The results show that for the subsurface drainage system under the condition of complete and continuous ponding, an introduced low-permeability soil layer of a certain length can reduce the surface water infiltration rate near the subsurface drain but increase it in the midway area. This leads to a relatively uniform salt leaching condition in the upper soil layer. Based on the removal of salt over the top 0.6-m soil leaching depth, the new method is found to save water by 82 and 52% for homogeneous and layered (a silt loam layer overlying a sandy loam layer) soils, respectively. This study sheds light on physical processes in coastal subsurface drainage systems and provides guidance for future optimal designs of soil amelioration schemes.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51579077 and 51308554). Pei Xin acknowledges the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2014B05714 and 2014B17214).
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Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 144 • Issue 8 • August 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 4, 2017
Accepted: Mar 22, 2018
Published online: Jun 15, 2018
Published in print: Aug 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Nov 15, 2018
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