INVESTIGATION OF THE TRANSPORT

Heavy metals are classified as hazardous chemical substances. They are major environmental pollutants and these pollutants affects the welfare of the environment, reduces the quality of life and eventually causes death. They are a collection of metal sand metalloids that have an atomic density larger than 4 g/cm3. A major source of Pb(II) pollutant is the automobile battery waste in automobile worship. This study was done to investigate the transport of Pb (II) in soil using response surface methodology. This investigation was carried out using a packed bed, which is a cylindrical vessel filled with uncontaminated sand. The bulk density, porosity, moisture content and pH of the soil were determined using standard procedures. The soil was then contaminated with stock solutions of Pb (II). A two - level, two - factor central composite design (CCD) was used for the design of the study. The factors considered for this study were depth and time while the concentration of Pb (II) was the response. The concentration level of Pb (II) at each point was determined using the atomic adsorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The results showed that the transport of heavy metals in soil is greatly influenced by the physico – chemical properties of the soil. The time factor had only a marginal
effect on the concentration level of Pb (II) while an increase in depth showed a significant decrease in Pb (II) concentration. The optimum concentration level was found to be at 30cm deep, after 36hrs of contamination. The findings from this investigation shows that time and depth of the soil is the predominant factor in the transport of Pb (II) on packed bed