Abstract
Soil columns have been utilized in hydrology to study vertical solute transfer through porous material for decades. Soil columns are typically designed as open tubes with soil held in place with meshing. While this open design is sufficient for non-hazardous particles, it is not ideal for hazardous biological contaminants that may be harmful to humans. The design of this study features a closed soil column system for use with potentially hazardous biological components. The apparatus is comprised of a mist nozzle, flow-reducing cap, and meshing to simulate rainfall on each soil column. After percolating through the soil, water and contaminants pass through a funnel coupling and discharge tube into a collection container. For additional safety, the soil column design fits within a standard biosafety cabinet for use with hazardous contaminants. Its modular design allows for simple maintenance, water flowrate adjustment, and versatility that encourages use in multiple applications. These soil columns were created to study the vertical flow of pathogens, pesticides, and other biological agents. Further experimentation with various hazardous components will develop a better understanding of their fate and transport in soil. This paper details the construction processes and testing methods to validate the system’s ability to replicate a desired flowrate, which is a precursor to studying the vertical transport of pathogens and other agents through soil.
Highlights
Soil columns are used for studying particle transport through a soil medium while controlling environmental parameters
This study focuses only on soil columns that are compact enough to reside on a bench top and within a standard biosafety cabinet
The procedure of running water through the soil column system demonstrates its potential as a functional soil column
Summary
Soil columns are used for studying particle transport through a soil medium while controlling environmental parameters. The objective of this study is to design and construct a versatile soil column system for use with multiple applications, including potentially harmful biological agents. For the purposes of this study, a soil column is defined as a vertical cylinder of soil and shell prepared for the experimentally-controlled study of particle and fluid movement in a saturated or unsaturated soil medium. As stated by Lewis and Sjöstrom (2010) [2], studies of particle and fluid movement can range widely, from transport model evaluation to evapotranspiration studies to fate and transport of various agents such as pesticides, microbes, heavy metals, and antibiotics. Vertical soil column systems can be very described as having a soil column shell and collection container
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