Laboratory tests for reactive barrier design

Owing to limitations of pump-and-treat, several technologies are being investigated for groundwater treatment. One of the most promising is the treatment of contaminants through the use of reactive barriers installed in situ, especially in the case of aquifers contaminated with chlorinated solvents. This work presents results of batch and column tests with metallic iron and some chlorinated solvents (1,2-DCA, 1,1,2-TCA and TCE). Such tests provided means to evaluate the degradation rates of these compounds and their byproducts. It is concluded that the reductive dechlorination with metallic iron can have different results, depending on the type of contaminant. Some contaminants may not present any degradation, or they have a half-life time so high that the use of the reactive barrier technology may not be practical. Furthermore, the formation of chlorinated byproducts, eventually more toxic than the original contaminant and that are not degradable using this same technology, emphasises that the treatment of aquifers should be sequential.