Dielectric Properties of Soils Affected by Sewage Waste Pollution

Abstract

Soil pollution has become one of the major issues in current era. Increasing population, industrialization, and human activities have contributed immensely to increase in sewage waste. Undisposed and poorly managed sewage waste has contaminated soil and water resources badly and affected their dielectric properties. In this study, the dielectric properties of soil affected by sewage waste pollution have been presented in the broadband frequency region of 200 MHz to 14 GHz with the use of open ended coaxial probe method. Moreover, the effect of contamination on soil pH has also been recorded. The results showed that the values of dielectric constant (Ɛ’) and dielectric loss factor (Ɛ’’) increases with escalation of contaminant content. The regression equations for Ɛ’, Ɛ’’, and pH values are also generated in this work. The results presented in this paper can be helpful in developing new approaches to study soil pollution and its type in comparison to conventional soil study approaches.