Leaching Behavior of Cadmium through Compacted Granitic Residual Soil Using Column Infiltration Test

Geology Programme, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: aishahzarime@gmail.com

Abstract

This study investigates the physico-chemical properties of granitic residual soils and comparison between two sorption tests; batch and column infiltration tests in evaluating the mobility of Cadmium (Cd) using granitic residual soils. The granitic residual soil has undergone the physical tests (eg: particle size distribution, Atterberg Limits, specific gravity and compaction), chemical tests (eg: pH, organic matter, specific surface area (SSA) and cation exchange capacity (CEC)) and sorption tests. For Batch test, the effect of Cd concentration in single and mixture solutions were studied. The result showed the K_d value of single solution (K_d=0.0062 L/g) was higher compared to mix solution (K_d=0.0022 L/g). For column infiltration test, several factors were studied in this research such as different g-force, different types of solutions and different soil thickness. Results showed that both sorption tests have different effects on mobility of heavy metals through soils. The column infiltration test gave the exact K_d values compared to the batch test since the condition of columns method applied were similar to the natural soil conditions.