Pollution treatment by sparging (or "stripping") is a technique that involves injecting air or another gas into contaminated water to cause pollutants to evaporate.
The sparging process involves injecting a gas into the contaminated water through diffusers, which can be placed at different depths to reach contaminated areas. The gas is usually air, but can also be carbon dioxide, nitrogen or water vapor.
The gas injected into the water forms bubbles that rise to the surface, carrying with them the volatile pollutants present in the water. These pollutants volatilize into the air above the water surface and can then be removed by an air treatment system, such as a deodorization tower or filtration system.
Sparging is often used to treat volatile organic pollutants (VOPs) in groundwater, such as benzene, toluene and trichloroethylene (TCE). It can also be used to remove gases dissolved in water, such as methane and hydrogen sulfide.
The advantages of sparging are its simplicity, low cost and effectiveness in treating volatile pollutants. However, this method may require long-term operations and continuous monitoring to ensure that pollutants are removed safely and effectively.
For in-situ remediation, other treatment methods can be used, such as controlled natural attenuation, biodegradation, biosparging, thermal desorption, dual-phase extraction, flushing, chemical oxidation, pump-and-skim, pump-and-treat, chemical reduction or venting.