Geotechnical and environmental effect of oily wastewater on erbil soils

This study investigates the effect of the excess of oily wastewater generated from the outlet of the refineries before remediating by the wastewater treatment plant on its impact on the environment and geotechnical properties of contaminated soils. The study area was the Kawergosek refinery (southwest of Erbil city). Environmental investigations have been included in this study. The results of the questionnaire showed that the majority of the citizens lived near oil fields and refineries should care about the air and soil pollution problems Figure (5-5), the air was also polluted by harmful gases such as Co and H2S, the surrounding agricultural lands were also polluted and caused a bad effect on the life of the citizens. The environmental pollution map of the southwest of Erbil city has also been designed where most of the oil fields and refineries exist, Figure (5-4). It has been shown that the emission rate of H2S in oil fields is much higher than those of refineries, Figure (5-2). Laboratory investigations have been carried out on soil samples with various percentages of contamination with oily wastewater. The results showed a considerable effect on the chemical soil characteristics, also on the physical and mechanical properties of Kawergosek refinery plant soils. Field investigations have also been conducted through examining the contaminated soil with oily wastewater in the model pit site in Cihan university/college of engineering, and in the Kawergosek refinery, lagoon site. The results showed that the examined soil was highly affected by the effect of oily wastewater on its chemical and engineering properties for both sites. Further study conducted regarding the effect of heads of spilled oily wastewater on the diffusion rates inside the three pits model, it has been shown a positive influence on the rate of diffusion, Figure (5-22) and a small effect on C and Φ values of Direct shear tests, Table(5-30).