Monitoring Lead in Soil Water System Using Complex Permittivity

Abstract

The complex permittivity was investigated to detect lead contamination in soil. The system used consists of an Automatic Network Analyzer (ANA), a sample holder, coaxial cables and a personal computer for data processing. Five samples of Halton Till soil were prepared and mixed with five different concentrations of hybrid blends of lead salts (PbSO4, PbCl2 and Pb(NO3)2). The objective was to investigate the capability of complex permittivity to detect lead, when introduced to the soil in hybrid blend salts. Chemical analysis was conducted on the pore water of the six soil samples to investigate lead transport and the potential risk of lead in groundwater sources. The results show that the complex permittivity is sensitive to the change in lead concentration in soil as the real part decreases and the imaginary part increases with the increase of lead concentration. The real part decreased from 23 to 17 when the concentration of the lead increased from 0 to 1800 ppm. The imaginary part increased from 16 to 24 as the lead concentration in soil increased from 0 to 1800 ppm. The chemical analysis of the pore water showed that the electrolytes increased as lead concentrations increased in soil. The results displayed that the complex permittivity could be used as a non-destructive tool to monitor lead contamination in soil.