Evaluation of the Application of Wastewater and Bioventing System for the Treatment of Crude Oil Contaminated Soils

Abstract

Environmental pollution is a form of land degradation which has contributed immensely to the reduction of available arable lands and could lead to the total annihilation of the ecosystem if not effectively mitigated. Bioremediation technology offers a biological means which provide an eco-friendly and cost-effective approach for soil remediation in contrast to physicochemical methods. This study aims to evaluate the application of wastewaters and air-injection for the treatment of crude oil contaminated soils. The treatment involves the amendment of crude oil contaminated soils with wastewaters at different ratios and the injection of atmospheric air. The results showed that the combined application of wastewater and air-injection was effective with 60-75% TPH removal efficiency while single application recorded 48-59% and 55% for wastewater and air-injection respectively. The study showed that the application of wastewater and air-injection can serve as a promising strategy for the remediation of crude oil contaminated soils..