Electrokinetic Remediation for Environmental Security and Sustainability

24Enhanced Remediation and Recovery of Metal‐Contaminated Soil Using Electrokinetic Soil Flushing

Yudha Gusti Wibowo¹ and Bimastyaji Surya Ramadan²

¹ Department of Environmental Science, School of Postgraduate Studies, Universitas Jambi, Jambi 36122, Indonesia

² Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang 50277, Indonesia

24.1 Introduction

Mining is an industrial activity that causes a significant impact on the environment. Open mining activities lead to significant changes in the landscape [1]. Some countries with the largest coal reserves, such as China, Indonesia, and the US, are at the greatest risk of damage to the quality and quantity of soil and groundwater caused by mining activities. This risk has received increasing worldwide attention over the past few decades and has led to a booming global market for remediation activities [2]. Compared to other remediation strategies, electrokinetic (EK) treatment is very effective in reducing soil pollution, but its effectiveness is limited to specific parameters such as metals and other ionic pollutants. The EK method’s effectiveness for treating some parameters of soil pollutants is still unknown [3].

Soil remediation using EK methods has been implemented and reduced the content of Cu in the soil [4]. Cr(IV) in contaminated soil was also successfully reduced by 87% after the EK method was applied for five days [5]. The longer the EK process was carried out, the greater the ...