Compacted clay can minimize infiltration of
liquid into waste or control the release of contaminated
liquids to the surrounding soils and groundwater. Compacted
lateritic soil treated with up to 12 % bagasse ash and
municipal solid waste (MSW) leachate sourced from a
domestic waste land fill were used in diffusion test studies
to access the diffusion characteristics of some inorganic
species present in the municipal solid waste leachate.
Diffusion set-up were prepared containing 0, 4, 8 and 12 %
bagasse ash—soil mixes compacted at 2 % wet of optimum
using the modified proctor effort. The set up was saturated
with water for 30 days before the introduction of MSW
leachate and initiation of diffusion test for another 90 days.
After diffusion testing, water content within the soil
column showed a decrease with depth. Diffusion test
results generally showed that diffusion is an active means
of transport of chemical species even at very low flow rates
in the compacted soil-bagasse ash mixes, and the effective
diffusion coefficient is affected by bagasse ash. The pore
fluid concentration profile for the various chemical species