Sediment Remediation
Sediment remediation is a multifaceted process that includes sediment assessment, risk evaluations, treatability and pilot testing, engineering design, permitting, construction management, environmental monitoring, and quality control. Geosyntec has performed these services on various projects, including small, intermittent-flow streams; large natural and artificial lakes; complex rivers, estuaries, and harbor systems; and dredged sediments from navigation channels and cleanup sites.
Capping remedies encapsulate contaminated sediments in a layer of clean materials such as soil, sand, or shells. Caps can include geotextiles to aid layer separation or stability, amendments for enhanced protection, and other features. Removing contaminated sediment (dredging or excavation) is another sediment remediation option, although it is generally less effective at overall risk reduction due to resuspension and residual contamination. Remediation of sediments contaminated with nutrients, metals, oxygen-demanding substances, and persistent organic chemicals is crucial to decreasing ecological impairment in marine and freshwater systems worldwide.
Groundwater Remediation
Many different activities produce soil and groundwater contamination. This contamination can be spread by surface runoff, leakage from underground pipes and storage tanks, accidental fertilizers, chemicals, pesticide spills, and more. Untreated, these contaminants pose risks to human health and can cause illnesses like hepatitis, dysentery, and certain types of cancer.
There are a few water remediation South Sound methods for contaminated groundwater. One is called pump and treat. This method physically removes contaminated groundwater from the subsurface, treats it with biological or chemical means, and then returns it to its original position. Another physical process, called air sparging or air stripping, involves injecting pressurized air into a contaminant plume to cause bubbles to rise. Vacuum systems then extract the contaminant particles.
Water remediation South Sound can also be done by in-situ treatment techniques such as bioaugmentation, bioventing, and chemical oxidation. These methods do not require removing the water from the site but rather use organic material or microorganisms to reduce the contaminants in the groundwater.
Surface Water Remediation
Surface water treatment involves the removal of dissolved and particulate matter from lake, river, or stream water. This can be done by filtration or disinfection. The treatment process may also involve using chemicals or biological methods to remove toxins, such as those made by cyanobacteria. Specialized techniques to remove radionuclides and specific chemicals are used in some communities.
A new approach to restoration is being used to help avoid the loss of nearshore habitat and the species that depend on it. It uses a “nearshore calculator” to measure the impacts of development on the lost habitat. Developers can offset debits by purchasing credits for habitat improvements elsewhere in the system.
The public can help by participating in the My South Sound Watershed Promise to reduce pollution from household and yard waste and other sources. The program teaches students about the watershed and offers them tips on how they can make a difference!
Wastewater Remediation
The world’s eight billion people create a lot of wastewater or sewage. This is too much for nature to handle by itself without treatment. Untreated sewage waste poisons people, fish, and wildlife that ingest it and depletes dissolved oxygen levels in freshwater bodies, creating dead zones where aquatic life cannot survive.
The first step of the wastewater treatment process is screening to remove large objects such as rags, wood fragments, plastics, and grease. The screened waste is then pumped to the next step, grit removal. In this step, heavy but delicate materials like sand and gravel are removed from the wastewater and disposed of in a landfill.
During the wastewater treatment process, soluble contaminants are separated from effluent through aeration, which adds oxygen back into the water. During secondary treatment, bacteria consume the dissolved organic material and convert it into carbon dioxide, water, and energy. Other steps reduce pathogen content, increase pH and stabilize chemicals.
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