Soil and Water Decontamination Technologies

The technology is commercially available for the decontamination of soil and porous concrete but is still being developed for the decontamination of water. 

It is necessary to understand the behavior of soil-water and its mineral components (e.g., nutrients, con taminants) for the purpose of developing conceptual and/or mechanistic process models. Such models can be used to predict nutrient fate in soil-water or contamination-decontamination of soil-water and to develop soil-water remediation-decontamination technologies. To gain an understanding of the soil-water mineral components, their physical and chemical properties need to be known. 

Lorena Cornejo (distribution and d5namics of the chemical elements in water and soil development, optimization and apphcation of spectroscope techniques for environmental matrices decontamination technologies and water disinfection). Laboratory of Environmental Research on Arid Zones (LIMZA, EUDIM), University ofTarapaca (UTA) Environmental Resources Area, Research Center of the Man in the Desert (CIHDE), Arica... 

The use of catalysts for exploiting renewable energy sources, producing clean fuels in refineries, and minimizing the by-product formation in industry also fall within the definition of environmental catalysis. In the future, the continuous effort to control transport emissions, improve indoor ah quality, and decontaminate polluted water and soil will further boost catalytic technology. All in all, catalysts will continue to be a valuable asset in the effort to protect human health, the natural environment, and the existence of life on Earth. 

One of the more recent technologies in pollution treatment and remediation is based on the electrokinetic decontamination of soils [126-128], in which a dc potential (a few volts per centimeter) is applied across two inert electrodes embedded in a soil mass. This applied potential causes decomposition of the soil water to occur at the two electrodes. The migration of contaminants in the electric field, water transport, and reactions at the electrodes, as well as reactions caused by the induced pH gradient, can effectively clean soils. Acar et al. [127] reviewed electrokinetic remediation for the removal of metals and other inorganic contaminants from soil as well as its use in the extraction of organics from contaminated soils. 

This entry introduces applications of ozone technology in various areas water and wastewater treatment control of the microbial safety of food decontamination of soils polymer surface modification and bleaching paper pulps. For water and wastewater treatment, in addition to being used alone, ozone is increasingly used in combination with heterogenous catalysts, UV/H2O2 (advanced oxidation process), and biological treatment to enhance ozonation efficiency. The discussion that follows mainly introduces the applications of ozone in water and wastewater treatment because ozone has been both extensively and intensively used in this area however, it does briefly describe other applications. 

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