Services

Soil
remediation services Leicester

Soilfix is a specialist soil remediation company and can take your projects from identification of the remedial requirement through to completion and final verification. Soil remediation is carried out using the most practical and appropriate technique that is only applied once we have fully understood our clients’ objectives.

soilfix ground risk solutions

Soil Remediation Leicester

Soil Remediation Services

Understanding the latest remedial technology is not enough for successful delivery of a remediation project. Health & safety, logistics, construction programs, waste management, changing legislation and the clients’ objectives are all essential components. Soilfix prides itself on having well-trained collaborative personnel with the necessary skills and experience to deliver a complete remediation service.

We have in-house capability and experience to implement a wide variety of soil treatment techniques including bioremediation, stabilisation/solidification, complex sorting (including landfill materials), encapsulation systems and dealing with asbestos in soils. Depending upon site specific requirements / constraints, soil remediation can be applied either ex-situ, in-situ or a combination of techniques.

Think we could help your project?

Asbestos in Soils & Demolition Materials Leicester

An increasingly common legacy of former industrial sites is the presence of asbestos containing materials (ACM’s) deposited or dispersed within made ground, resulting in asbestos contaminated soils (ACS) present in the ground.

This problem is often exacerbated by poorly controlled demolition practices, resulting in ACM fragments becoming spread across the site surface and/or throughout crushed materials.  The presence of ACM’s and ACS can result in significant potential liabilities, programme delays and escalating costs for landowners and developers.

Soilfix has significant experience in adopting pragmatic, robust yet cost-effective solutions for asbestos contaminated sites, fully in compliance with the Control of Asbestos Regulations (CAR) 2012 and relevant waste management legislation.  Through careful planning of pre-treatment and materials management requirements, the volumes of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes removed off-site can be minimised.

Works are either carried out by Soilfix appropriately trained staff under a Notifiable Non-Licensable Works (NNLW) Notification, or, where higher risk ACM’s are encountered, carried out using a licensed Asbestos Contractor. The following sustainable and cost-effective remedial measures are routinely carried out by Soilfix:

  • Selective excavation, sorting and in-situ manual picking of ACM fragments;
  • Screening and manual picking of ACM fragments, in an enclosed picking station for larger quantities of material;
  • Stabilisation and / or encapsulation of ACS to minimise the potential for residual fibre release;
  • Stringent environmental monitoring and controls, including fine-mist (virtual enclosure) suppression systems, reassurance air testing and scanning electron microscopy analysis to confirm airborne fibre concentrations are below HSE control limits as well as environmental background levels.

All Soilfix staff working with asbestos are Non-licensed/Notifiable non-licensed work trained and have regular medicals and respirator face-fitting to ensure compliance with CAR2012.

soil and groundwater remediation

Bioremediation Leicester

Many organic contaminants provide an energy source for naturally occurring micro-organisms present within the soil (e.g. bacteria).  Under the right conditions, these organisms will degrade organic contaminants to form less toxic and/or more stable materials.

These processes can be enhanced by manipulating the conditions within the soils that enable the relevant micro-organisms to both thrive and interact with the contaminants.  The presence of nutrients and available carbon within the soil will provide the basic building blocks for the organisms and can be artificially increased with the application of various bio-nutrient products or fertilisers. Optimising pH, temperature, moisture and oxygen conditions can boost populations and enable maximum interaction with the contaminant.

Biorememediation can be accelerated within ex-situ soils using vented biopiles or windrow technology. Bio-venting, sparging or permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) can be used to accelerate the process in-situ.

Soilfix can design and build the systems that will enable you to achieve maximum rates of bioremediation at your site.  Where more complex contaminant situations, gross start concentrations or biomass limited situations occur, Soilfix has experience in bio-augmentation using both specially cultured and indigenous biomass to enhance the treatment process.

Stabilisation - Solidification Soilfix

Stabilisation / Solidification Leicester

Stabilisation / Solidification of soils is increasingly a cost effective technology for the rapid treatment and / or immobilization of hazardous wastes and contaminated soils or sludge’s.  The terms “solidification” and “stabilization” describe two distinct mechanisms.

  • Solidification changes the physical properties of contaminated material to increase its compressive strength, decrease its permeability, and encapsulate hazardous constituents.
  • Stabilisation changes the chemistry of certain hazardous constituents, making them less soluble, less mobile, and/or less toxic.

Prior to commencing, samples of the contaminated material are taken and laboratory pilot trials conducted to calculate the most cost effective reagent or combination of reagents to achieve the site remedial targets. Binding agents are then applied and the soils rotivated either in-situ (e.g. auger, injection, rotivator) or ex-situ (e.g. batching plant, blending equipment).  Performance testing of the treated materials is usually completed throughout the works.  Depending on requirements this can include tests on hydraulic conductivity, unconfined compressive strength and leachate characteristics.

The technology can be tailored to meet both the remedial and construction objectives of a project (e.g. using contaminated soils to form a piling mat, capping layer or engineered fill).

Complex Sorting?

Soilfix has significant experience in adopting a wide variety of both conventional and more innovative in-situ / ex-situ groundwater treatment technologies to meet site specific remedial objectives and / or enable excavation and removal of in-ground obstructions.

  • Total fluids recovery & ex-situ treatment using solids/NAPL separation, air stripping and filtration;
  • Surfactant-enhanced total fluids recovery through injection or groundwater recirculation;
  • Free-product recovery (with and without vacuum-enhancement) using pneumatic skimming, dual-phase and multi-phase vacuum extraction systems;
  • Air sparge / SVE systems (including use of ozone);
  • Enhanced natural attenuation techniques for both aerobic and reductive treatment to stimulate accelerated biodegradation (for hydrocarbons, solvents and trace organic compounds) or precipitation (e.g. hexavalent chromium); and,
  • In-situ chemical oxidation / reduction technologies.

Soilfix also has experience in carrying out thermally-enhanced treatment using both steam and electric conductive heating using specialist partners.

Talk to our team

Peter Howland
Managing Director