METHOD AND PROBE FOR MEASURING HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY OF SOIL

摘要

Agricultural waste lagoons are the predominant method currently utilized tocontain large quantities of livestock by-products such as manure. Clay linersare the most common materials used to line the bottom of storage lagoons inorder to prevent waste effluent seepage. Clay liners are an economical liningmaterial and have a hydraulic conductivity of less than 1x10-7 cm/s. Propercontainment of waste in storage lagoons is critical to avoid the implicationsof local groundwater contamination. A hydraulic conductivity probe wasdesigned to alleviate the negative aspects of the current methods used todetermine hydraulic conductivity. The probe includes a housing for insertioninto the ground, electrical potential gradient means for generating anelectrical potential gradient in the ground and pressure sensing means formeasuring changes in pressure in the ground.