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Solute Travel-time Estimates for Tile-drained Fields: III. Removal of a Geothermal Brine Spill from Soil by Leaching¹

ABSTRACT

The time required to leach a slug of saline, sodic geothermal brine from the point of injection to the tile outlet of an artificially drained field is calculated. Sprinkler, complete, and partial ponding leaching methods are compared as a function of drain spacing and initial location of the spill. Calculated results are presented as dimensionless parameters which scale the drainage system dimensions and the soil water transport properties. Ponded leaching required more water, but less time to leach brine out of the system for all situations except where the brine spill occurs near the midpoint between tile lines.

A simple calculation is proposed to estimate the leaching fluid volume required to remove excess Na⁺ from the exchange complex. Good agreement was attained between simulated and experimental results involving a laboratory soil column. For fine-textured soils in the Imperial Valley of California it may require up to 30 pore volumes of leaching fluid to replace Na⁺ with Ca²⁺ if saturated gypsum solution is used in reclamation. Application time per pore volume was calculated to be in excess of 1 year for all cases except ponded leaching directly over a tile line.

¹ Contribution of Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Calif., Riverside, CA 92521.

² Associate Professor and Staff Research Associate, respectively.

Received for publication January 27, 1978. Accepted for publication May 17, 1978.