Dj. Rooney et al., THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CAPILLARY BARRIERS TO HYDRAULICALLY ISOLATE SALTCONTAMINATED SOILS, Water, air and soil pollution, 104(3-4), 1998, pp. 403-411
The use of capillary barriers overlayed with topsoil to hydraulically
isolate highly saline soils was investigated in a greenhouse study. Ca
pillary barriers of 8 cm or greater thickness effectively prevented sa
lt from migrating upward into the topsoil, thus allowing vegetation to
be established. The water which drained from the capillary barrier ha
d electrical conductivities on the order of one third that of the unde
rlying saline soil, and should be acceptable for stream discharge. The
capillary barriers reduced the flux of water and salt to the groundwa
ter to about one third of that of the control. The results of the stud
y show that capillary barriers can be used effectively to contain salt
contaminated soils.