Many geoenvironmental applications make use of granular drainage layers. Design guidelines for these drains recommend a granular soil that provides for filtration of the adjacent base soil. Filtration criteria have been developed through laboratory studies in which fine soils under a concentrated gradient of water are protected from erosion by a filter soil. The primary objective in these studies has been the geotechnical stability of earth-fill structures, while drainage was a secondary consideration. Granular drainage layers have therefore been constructed using fine sand. The subsequent migration of fine soil into these drains has resulted in significant loss in permeability. The main research objective was to develop design criteria for granular drains to be used for long term operation in environmental applications. The secondary objective was to investigate the relationships between grain size distribution of drain materials and clogging by fines. This was done through a laboratory study where changes in permeability were measured in granular soils infiltrated with fines. Lastly, the effect of salinity on fines deposition was also investigated. The hypothesis of the current study is that coarser granular drains minimize the impact of clogging and provides a better alternative to traditional drain designs for long term environmental applications. The laboratory study was performed with three granular drainage soils: a French Drain sand designed using the traditional filter design method, a coarser uniform sand, and a coarser graded sand with approximately 40% gravel sized particles. Three fine soils were used to infiltrate the drainage soils; however, their particle size distributions were not significantly different from one another. The results indicate that the permeability of all three drainage soils could be reduced by approximately one order of magnitude with continuous flow of a high concentration of fines (5 g/L). The permeabilities of the sands were reduced to a lesser extent with a lower concentration of fines. Permeabilities of the graded soils decreased more slowly with a lower concentration of fines, when considering pore volumes of flow. However, the rate of permeability decrease was ultimately influenced by the amount of fines delivered to the sample. A lower concentration of fines did not significantly slow the rate of permeability reduction in the uniform sand. All three sands retained a similar mass of fines (samples were split and fines content measured following each test). Salinity in the pore water did not significantly affect deposition, likely due to the fact that the fines contained a small amount of clay sized particles. When considering that all three drainage soils became clogged with fines during the tests, the coarse soils maintained a relatively high permeability due to the fact that their pre-test permeabilities were high. This information, along with the results from the literature review, has led to the development of recommended new design criteria for granular drains to be used for long-term geoenvironmental applications. Test results from an earlier study found that dispersive soils subject to high gradients can be successfully protected by a filter coarser than the coarse graded soil used in the current study. It therefore follows that a granular soil intended for groundwater collection applications can be made to be coarser than the current accepted practice. A proposed granular drain design band is presented in the current study.

Many geoenvironmental applications make use of granular drainage layers. Design guidelines for these drains recommend a granular soil that provides for filtration of the adjacent base soil. Filtration criteria have been developed through laboratory studies in which fine soils under a concentrated gradient of water are protected from erosion by a filter soil. The primary objective in these studies has been the geotechnical stability of earth-fill structures, while drainage was a secondary consideration. Granular drainage layers have therefore been constructed using fine sand. The subsequent migration of fine soil into these drains has resulted in significant loss in permeability. The main research objective was to develop design criteria for granular drains to be used for long term operation in environmental applications. The secondary objective was to investigate the relationships between grain size distribution of drain materials and clogging by fines. This was done through a laboratory study where changes in permeability were measured in granular soils infiltrated with fines. Lastly, the effect of salinity on fines deposition was also investigated. The hypothesis of the current study is that coarser granular drains minimize the impact of clogging and provides a better alternative to traditional drain designs for long term environmental applications. The laboratory study was performed with three granular drainage soils: a French Drain sand designed using the traditional filter design method, a coarser uniform sand, and a coarser graded sand with approximately 40% gravel sized particles. Three fine soils were used to infiltrate the drainage soils; however, their particle size distributions were not significantly different from one another. The results indicate that the permeability of all three drainage soils could be reduced by approximately one order of magnitude with continuous flow of a high concentration of fines (5 g/L). The permeabilities of the sands were reduced to a lesser extent with a lower concentration of fines. Permeabilities of the graded soils decreased more slowly with a lower concentration of fines, when considering pore volumes of flow. However, the rate of permeability decrease was ultimately influenced by the amount of fines delivered to the sample. A lower concentration of fines did not significantly slow the rate of permeability reduction in the uniform sand. All three sands retained a similar mass of fines (samples were split and fines content measured following each test). Salinity in the pore water did not significantly affect deposition, likely due to the fact that the fines contained a small amount of clay sized particles. When considering that all three drainage soils became clogged with fines during the tests, the coarse soils maintained a relatively high permeability due to the fact that their pre-test permeabilities were high. This information, along with the results from the literature review, has led to the development of recommended new design criteria for granular drains to be used for long-term geoenvironmental applications. Test results from an earlier study found that dispersive soils subject to high gradients can be successfully protected by a filter coarser than the coarse graded soil used in the current study. It therefore follows that a granular soil intended for groundwater collection applications can be made to be coarser than the current accepted practice. A proposed granular drain design band is presented in the current study.

In this study, the relationship between soil suction and shear strength parameters of compacted METU campus clay were investigated at different moisture contents. Soil samples were tested at optimum moisture content (i.e. w=20.8%), at dry side of optimum moisture content (i.e. w=14.8%, 16.8%, 18.8%) and at wet side of optimum moisture content (i.e. w=22.8%, 24.8%, 26.8%). Direct shear tests were performed to measure shear strength parameters (c&#039 / , &amp / #934 / &#039 / ) and soil suctions were measured by filter paper method after direct shear tests. These relationships were also investigated on soaked samples. The trends for suction, angle of internal friction and cohesion, which change on the dry side and wet side of optimum moisture content, were analyzed. The compacted METU campus clay gains granular soil fabric at the dry side of optimum moisture content. As moisture content increases, cohesion increases up to optimum moisture content and then decreases. But angle of internal friction decreases as moisture content increases. Soaking affects the samples more which are on the dry side of optimum moisture content. The soil suction (total suction and matric suction) affects the shear strength, and an increase in soil suction increases the shear strength.

Avloppsreningsverket i Forsmark renar vattnet med aktivt slam i en satsvis biologisk rening (SBR) reaktor samt med våtmarker. Våtmarkerna består av fyra pulskärr och en damm. Pulskärren är utformade som bassänger fyllda med grus som filtermaterial där ytan är bevuxen. Pulskärren beskickas satsvis med 60 m^3 vatten när någon av SBR-reaktorerna töms, vattnet rinner då ut över ytan samtidigt som det perkolerar ner i bädden. När SBR-reaktorn har tömts är hela pulskärret mättat. Tömningen av pulskärret sker genom ett dränerande gruslager i botten och sedan flödar vattnet vidare ut genom ett ställbart dräneringsrör till slutdammen. Pulskärrens uppgift är att stoppa partiklar och att fungera som ett nitrifierande steg ifall verket i framtiden skulle få ökade reningskrav. I detta arbete har pulskärrens funktion som nitrifierare av ammonium undersökts. Detta genom att sammanställa befintliga driftdata från reningsverket, fältstudier samt en litteraturgenomgång. Målet med fältstudien var att mäta halten ammonium, nitrat och totalkväve i vattnet som gick in och ut ur pulskärret för att se hur halterna ändrades. Dessutom mättes temperatur, syrehalt, pH och konduktivitet. Provtagningen genomfördes på två pulskärr med tömningstiderna två respektive fyra timmar. Resultaten visade att ammoniumhalterna halveras i pulskärren. Inkommande ammonium till pulskärren var cirka 3 mg/l under studien men om ammoniumkoncentrationen skulle öka kommer nitrifikationen antagligen ske i liknande utsträckning. Detta då liknande system påvisat sådana resultat. Ökad tömningstid för pulskärren medför ökad nitrifikation, pulskärren bör därför ställas om så att tömning sker under cirka fyra timmar. För att hitta en optimal tömningstid bör vidare undersökningar göras. Forsmarks avloppsreningsverk möter de reningskrav som ställts med marginal. Trots att detta inte var syftet, avskiljs 80 % av inkommande kväve och det kunde konstateras att den största kväveavskiljningen sker i SBR-reaktorn. Kvävereduktionen har uppstått då verket haft låg belastning samtidigt som mycket syre tillsatts till processen. Då rening genom pulskärr sker efter att vattnet passerat genom SBR-reaktorerna borde luftningen kunna minskas för att istället utnyttja pulskärrens nitrifierande egenskaper. Svensk kärnbränslehantering AB har planer på att leda lakvatten till reningsverket för att avskilja kväverester, skulle detta ske kommer flödena över pulskärren att öka. Att den hydrauliska belastningen ökar borde inte utgöra några problem då flödena troligen inte kommer överstiga pulskärrens kapacitetsgränser. I extrema fall kan tömningstiden på pulskärren minskas. / Forsmark wastewater treatment plant treats wastewater using an active sludge process in sequencing batch reactors (SBR:s) and followed by constructed wetlands. The wetlands consist of four intermittent loaded soil filters (ILS:s) and a pond. The ILS:s is designed as pools filled with filter material and with a plant-grown surface. One of the ILS:s fills up with water when one of the SBR reactors is emptied. The water flows out over the surface as it percolates into the bed. When the SBR reactor is emptied, the entire ILS becomes saturated. The ILS then drains through a drainage gravel layer at the bottom and further through an adjustable drainage pipe into the dam. The purpose of the ILS:s is to work as extra filter for removal of the remaining particles and escaping sludge. They have also been thought to act as a nitrifying step if the plant would have tougher cleaning requirements in the future. In this report, the function of the ILS:s as nitrifying steps was investigated by compiling existing operating data from the treatment plant, with conducted field studies and through a literature review. The field study aimed at measuring ammonium, nitrate and total nitrogen in the water at the entering and the outlet in the ILS to see how the different nitrogen concentrations was affected. Temperature, oxygen, pH and electricalconductivity were also measured. The sampling was done on two ILS with different drainage time, two and four hours. The results showed that the ILS:s nitrifies the incoming water with an average efficiency of 50 % depending on the ammonium contentration in the incoming water. An increased drainage time for the ILS seamed to result in better nitrification. Therefore, the ILS:s should be changed to drain for at least four hours. Should the ammonium concentration increase above 3 mg/l the nitrification rate would probably be about the same. Similar systems such as have shown similar nitrification removal but with higher ammonia concentrations. Forsmarks wastewater treatment plant meets the purification requirements imposed on the plant with margin. It is remarkable that, without planning for any nitrogen removal, the removal is about 80 % of incoming nitrogen, most of which is removed in the SBR reactor. Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB plans to lead leachate to the treatment plant for nitrogen removal. If this plan is fulfilled, the flows through the ILS will increase. This should not be a problem as the total flow trought the ILS will not exceed the capacity limits of the ILS. In case of high flows, the emptying time of the ILS:s can be reduced.

Constructed wetlands and the soil filters are water treatment devices using the filter material that in most cases consists of natural river gravel, coarse sand or crushed stone. Master´s thesis deals with the research of cleaning effect of unconventional filtration materials, or more precisely with examination to load real waste water in a filtration column, to prove their ability to be used as an alternative medium that can ensure better cleaning effect. For the research work following metallurgical industry materials were used: fine slag and coarse slag 8-16 mm, materials from the natural character: zeolite, keramzit, a plastic material: PUR-foam. Also the traditional materials of fine gravel and coarse gravel were tested to compare the cleaning efficiency. Both the hydraulic and the cleaning efficiency of all above mentioned materials were tested. The examined hydraulic parameters are particularly porosity, hydraulic conductivity and suspended solids, turbidity and oxidation-reduction potential of both the inflow and outflow of the filter columns were determined. Accredited laboratory set the inflow and outflow of the filter columns BOD5, CODCr, total phosphorus, total nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia and dissolved oxygen. By evaluating the results of the measurements it is determined which materials are suitable to be applied in the constructed wetlands and the soil filters. This filtration column was modeled by program HYDRUS and the result was compared with real results.

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