3 Ways to Decontaminate Soil Naturally

If you notice that there is some kind of change in the soil on your property, either with the way it looks or the way it smells, you could well be dealing with a contamination issue. Contamination of soil can occur for a number of reasons, usually man made, but the most common reason for this on a home property is waste disposal, in which case you might want to take a look at your plumbing. Another common reason for soil contamination on domestic properties is disposal of toxic materials such as paint or petrol.

Sorting out your plumbing is a sensible preventative thing to do, but if there is already contamination, there are a few natural ways that you can decontaminate the soil.

Add fish bones to the soil. This might seem a little out there, but if your soil has the problem of having too much lead, this could be the solution for you. Lead contamination normally occurs when toxic substances such as paint are introduced to soil. If you grind up fish bones, they can perform the clever task of depositing phosphates that move through soil and mix with lead particles to form pyromorphite, which is a harmless mineral. Do this and add a thick layer of new soil to the top and your soil should be lead free and all set for planting.

Grow naturally detoxifying plants. Some plants perform the miraculous task of detoxifying the soil as they grow in a process called phytoremediation. There are certain species within the mustard family that have shown very powerful properties of decontamination. Brassica juncea and Brassica carinata are two particular varieties of the mustard plant that have shown to remove traces of chromium, lead, copper and nickel from contaminated soil.  

Bioremediate the soil. Bioremediation is essentially the practice of adding microorganisms, such as yeast, bacteria or fungi, that will consume toxic substances. Like humans, microorganisms digest organic substances to survive, but some of these microorganisms are also skilled at eating substances that are toxic to the human body. They will digest these substances until absolutely no pollutants remain, and there are no harmful byproducts that occur from the process either.

Of course, if you want to err on the side of caution and remove that contaminated soil and start afresh, you can lean on the talents of contaminated soil removal specialists who will remove the contaminated soil completely from your land.