Study of Pollution of the Subsoil Under Slurry Ponds

Slurry is the residual material formed from solid and liquid animal wastes, water from drinking trough, and the cleaning of stables. This intensive livestock activity in some farms in the Region is more than 20 years old. The slurry ponds, owing to the typical nature of slurry, are sources of potential contamination: eutrophization of the aquatic environment, contamination of subterranean water with nitrates and soils, salinization, phototoxicity and nutritional imbalance in plants. <br> <br>In order to study the temporal evolution of these effects on the subsoil in two slurry ponds located near Lorca (Murcia, SE Spain), geophysical techniques were employed specifically 2D and 3D electrical tomography. Use of these non-destructive geophysical techniques intends to evaluate if 2D and 3D electrical tomography is capable of revealing possible leakage of contamination in the subsoil through the seasonal monitoring of the slurry-soil interaction. <br> <br>The results had confirmed that this technique is suitable for this type of study in the first 15 meters according to the contrast of resistivity between the material of subsoil and the slurry. The results clearly reflect what the direction and depth of filtration is.