The clogging of fine-porosity geotextiles by soil particles is considered to be a problem in applications of these fabrics to filtering of municipal and industrial effluents. However, the clogging phenomenon can be an advantage for certain purposes, such as the creation of near-watertight membranes for sealing manure holding tanks. The conceived advantages of non-woven needle-punctured geotextiles are that they are less expensive due to lower material quantity, they are more resistant to tensile stresses compared to impermeable plastics and concrete, and they are easily installed. This thesis describes experimental work on the permeability and clogging characteristics of a Non-woven Polyester Geotextile with three different porosities (13.4, 19.5 and 26.0mum) but the same hydraulic conductivity (Kw = 10-5 m/s), when subjected to different heads of cattle slurry at 1, 2 and 4% total solids (TS) concentrations. The resulting infiltration rates were used to establish the effect of geotextile pore size and manure TS on geotextile sealing and to find the location of the seal, whether at the surface or within the geotextile. After 100 days of experimentation, the lowest infiltration rate of 1.1 L/m2/d was reached with the 13.4mum geotextile. Manure TS had a significant effect on the sealing and at least 4% TS was required to minimize the geotextile's infiltration rate. Clogging occurred within the pores, suggesting that the seal remains even after removing the manure. / This advantage can be translated into economic benefit when fun cost comparisons with sealing liners such as geomembranes and concrete are undertaken. / This research also reviews and analyzes the physical, chemical and biological processes leading to clogging of geotextiles as well as a cost-benefit comparison with the other sealing materials. The analysis concludes that clogged geotextiles are a wise choice for Canadian livestock producers.

No description available.