Turbidity Measurements to Determine the Amount of Clay in a Sample–Clays Abate Toxic Uranium from Water

In northern New Mexico and the Four Corners area, there are communities with uranium contaminated water. Uranium has detrimental health and environmental effects.  However, clay is a potential solution to abate uranium in potable water. Therefore, determining the amount of clay in a soil sample is essential.  Clays suspend in water, and a sample with a large amount of clay is highly turbid. Clay in the soil will suspend, whereas the non-clay components will “settle”. Therefore, the hypothesis is that the turbidity of the suspended clay will correlate to the amount of clay in the sample. Three samples were prepared and agitated (0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 g clay per 16 mL of water). The 0.3 gram sample remained suspended longer (17.5 hours), while the 0.9 grams flocculated more quickly (9.5 hours). This trend is useful for predicting clay content. An additional parameter was discovered – an aqueous solution with an elevated ionic strength will cause the clay to floc more quickly, therefore, this parameter needs to be controlled. Supported by PHS Grant # R25 GM048998-13.