Journal of the Korean Geo-Environmental Society ISSN:1598-0820(Print) 2714-1233(Online) 한국지반환경공학회 논문집

As the electrical property of fully saturated soils is dependent on the pore water, it has been commonly used for the detection of the contamination into the ground. The objective of this study is to investigate the electrical characteristics according to the salinity and the lead concentration in fully saturated soils. Fresh water and saline water with the salinity of 1%, 2% and 3%, which are mixed with 6 different lead solutions with the range of 0～10 mg/L, are prepared in the cylindrical cell incorporated with sensors for measuring electrical resistance and time domain reflectometry signal. Then, the dried sands are water-pluviated into the cell. The electrical resistance and the time domain reflectometry signal are used to estimate the electrical conductivity. Test results show that electrical conductivity determined from electrical resistance at the frequency of 1 kHz continuously increases with an increase in the lead concentration, thus it may be used for the estimation of the contaminant level. In addition, the electrical conductivity estimated by the time domain reflectometry changes even at very low concentration of lead, the variation rate decreases as the lead concentration increases. Thus, the time domain reflectometry can be used for the investigation of the heavy metal leakage. This study demonstrates that complementary characteristics of electrical resistance and time domain reflectometry may be used for the detection of the leakage and contamination of heavy metal in coastal and marine environments.