THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MUNICIPAL SEWAGE SLUDGE APPLICATION ON THE STABILIZATION OF Pb, Zn, AND Cd IN A SOIL CONTAMINATED FROM MINING ACTIVITIES

Abstract

The effectiveness of municipal sewage sludge for the stabilisation of Pb, Zn and Cd in a heavily contaminated soil was evaluated by performing pot experiments on soil-sludge mixtures. The soil sample originated from the Montevecchio mining district, Sardinia, Italy, and presented high Pb, Zn and Cd content, as well as US EPA TCLP solubility values for Pb and Cd, which exceeded the respective regulatory limits. Sewage sludge application increased the soil pH. Stabilisation experiments showed that 10% w/w sewage sludge addition effectively reduced Pb and Cd solubilities below the TCLP regulatory limits. At the same addition rate, the EDTA extractable fraction of Pb, Zn, Cd in the treated soil was reduced by 12, 47 and 50% respectively compared with the untreated sample. The five-stage sequential extraction procedure applied on the untreated and treated soil samples, showed a remarkable shift of the metals towards more stable forms. The reducible fractions of Zn and Cd and the residual fraction of Pb were increased by 12, 20 and 18% respectively, while a corresponding decrease in the mobile fractions (exchangeable and carbonate) occurred which accounted for 14, 23 and 25% respectively.

Keywords:

• Sewage sludge
• Soil
• Stabilization
• Metals
• Contamination

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the European Commission, under the “BRITE-EURAM” Programme, Contract No. BRPR-CT96-0297. They would also like to express their thanks to the company EMSA SA, Sardinia, Italy for providing the soil samples.