It makes common sense that the key to a healthy garden is clean and healthy soil. When you have contaminated soil, it can quickly cause a wide range of problems. It is therefore important to understand what causes contaminated soil before it happens and learn how to clean it or when it is better to better to look at soil contamination disposal options.
What Is Contaminated Soil?
If possible, before you even begin planning and constructing your garden, you should have a sample of the soil analysed. Many different things can affect soil’s quality. You need to research into what the surrounding land may have been used for in the past and the inpact on the environment nearby industries may have caused.
Commonly, it is dangerous chemicals and toxins that cause contaminated soil by getting into the soil and disrupting the structure of it. Health problems can arise when contaminants are taken from the soil into plants or fruit and vegetables growing in the soil. By testing the soil you can find out the quality of it and what the cause of contamination could be.
Likely Contaminants In Soil
There are a number of contaminants that can be found in the soil of urban gardens that you should be aware of, including lead, cadmium, arsenic, weed killers, fertilisers and pesticides. If you are currently living close to either a commercial or industrial site, you should have your soils checked for toluene, benzene, cyanides and metals as well as other chemicals and toxins commonly associated with leaks from gas stations. If you are living in a rural location you should also check your soil and local area for present and past existing pesticides and connected industries.
How You Can Clean Soil That Has Contaminated?
Although it is not literally possible to completely clean contaminated soil, you can reduce the impact of the toxins within it. For instance, adjusting the pH count of the soil as close to neutral as much as you can will help decrease the negative implications and effects of contaminants found in soil.
You can also treat soil that is contaminated by adding rich and potent organic matter to the soil and by topping it with a healthy covering of aged manure, compost or peat-rich moss. By doing this you can help prevent damage to plants. You should always be sure to wash any vegetables or fruit before you eat them. This is a good rule to follow whether you have contaminated soil problems or not, obviously.
If course, if soil contamination is a problem in your garden and you still want to plant things, you could build raised beds using lumber that has not been treated, allowing you to add soil you know exactly what it has inside. By taking the appropriate measures and cleaning the contaminated soil before it has the chance to become a problem can reduce the need to use a contaminated soil disposal service.