Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/M90092/01
Title:	ELECTROKINETICS TO ENHANCE DEGRADATION OF ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS IN SOIL
Principal Investigator:	Sills, Professor G
Other Investigators:	Thompson, Professor I
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:	Atkins Defence Science & Tech Lab DSTL Environment Agency (Grouped) Golder Associates (UK) Ltd
Department:	Engineering Science
Organisation:	University of Oxford
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	22 May 2000	Ends:	21 August 2003	Value (£):	224,150
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Assess/Remediate Contamination
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Environment No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
The aim of this study is to investigate the potential for remediating soil pollution by moving organic contaminants and bacteria by electrokinetics. Initial studies will define the movement of a model organic (pentachlorophenol) by electrokinetics in different soil types under a range of conditions. The movement of a range of bacteria, selected for their different morphological characteristics, will also be assessed under the same parameters. To combine movement and biodegradation, both the organic and marked degradative bacteria will be introduced into the soil. Relative electrokinetic movements will be correlated to bacterial degradation of the organic and growth under different conditions and the process will be optimised. Extending the process into aged and historically contaminated soils will elucidate the effects of bioavailability and the constraints upon real contaminated sites. Microbial community analysis will be used to assess the behaviour of degradative organisms within overall bacterial populations and the possible influence of DC current upon background microbial populations. The synthesis of these results will provide a generic understanding of the processes governing the electrokinetic movements of pollutants and bacteria and the associated biodegradative processes yielding a more controllable predictive approach to engineering bioremediation.
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Organisation Website:	http://www.ox.ac.uk