Acid Sulfate Soil Treatment with ViroSoil
The contamination of soils by acidity or inorganic contaminants, or both, is common in natural acid sulfate soils, at sites where sediment is dredged from harbours, estuaries lakes or dams and then stored in subaerial conditions, in agricultural soils through the addition of biosolids and some fertilisers, in soils contaminated by fallout from smelters and refineries, and at mine sites as a result of sulfide mineral oxidisation.
Acid sulfate soils (ASS) are soils and sediments containing iron sulfides. When exposed to oxygen and H2O due to any combination of exposure, drainage or disturbance, these sulfidic soils and sediments produce sulfuric acid, leading to low water pH (4.0 and below). During ASS formation, sulfate in seawater is microbially reduced to sulfide, primarily as hydrogen sulfide, but other organo-sulfides are also produced. Furthermore, ASS releases toxic quantities of iron (Fe), aluminium (Al) and other heavy metals into water sources, which in turn bind phosphates and other nutrients needed for the growth of natural food.
ViroSoil Technology, provided by Virotec, has the remarkable ability to neutralise acid and remove heavy metals from soil across a wide range of applications.
This remarkable technology can be applied to economically treat acid sulfate soils and marine clays to:
Permanently neutralise acid;
Trap trace metals and prevent leaching; and,
Enhance nutrient retention capacity and promote vigorous plant growth.