Services

Soilutions have specialist expertise in the treatment of contaminated groundwater and provide in-house equipment and resources including pumps, tanks and fitters to undertake a range of treatment applications.

Pump and treat is a common method for remediating groundwater. Pumps are used to bring polluted groundwater to the surface where it can be treated more easily. Groundwater is the water that has collected underground in the spaces between soil particles and voids within rocks and flows underground into rivers, lochs or the sea.

To remove polluted water from underground, an extraction system is built. This system usually consists of one or more wells equipped with pumps. When the pumps are turned on, they pull the polluted groundwater into the wells and up to the surface. At the surface, the water goes into a holding tank and then on to a treatment system, where it is cleaned. There are a number of treatment methods which can be used to either destroy the contaminates or remove them for disposal. The cleaned water can then be put back into the ground or into a public sewer. In order for pump and treat to be effective, the source of the pollution must first be taken away so that it will not continue to seep into the groundwater. For example, leaking oil drums or tanks must be removed and the surrounding polluted soil must be remediated.

A pump and treat cleanup is a relatively slow process. It will usually last at least five to ten years, but can last for decades. The time it takes depends on:

• The type and amount of contamination present
• The size and depth of the polluted groundwater
• The type of soil and rock in the area

Vacuum Extraction and Air Sparging

These complementary techniques are often applied to overcome the limitations associated with pump and treat systems. Soilutions have considerable expertise in the installation and operation of in-situ treatment systems.

Groundwater treatment - Dundee

Water remediation - Stornoway