Has anyone looked at the effects of surfactants on soil permeability? After reading this entire post I started looking in to what ingredients these companies are using in their products. There is a lot of information on the web about soil stabilization that include types of oils and surfactants to reduce permeability and for erosion control. Just curious. Surfactant would be much cheaper than any of these products for sale.
Here is just two of the examples I've found. Not sure any of this would work at all for larger leaks but for seepage it might.My pond is about 4 ft from pool but still seeping. Still pumping and gaining a little at a time though.
The use of vegetable oil as an electron donor to enhance the reductive dechlorination of chlori-nated solvents as an in situ remediation technology is gaining significant traction. Vegetable oil is a cost-effective slow-release electron donor with greater hydrogen-release efficiency than other electron-donor products. However, neat vegetable oil can inhibit distribution in aquifers due to the oil droplets blocking the flow of groundwater through the smaller pore spaces in the aquifer materials.
Surfactants are used as soil amendments to help soil retain water. Soil surfactants move water quickly off the surface of the soil and enable water to penetrate the soil and move laterally and vertically into the root zone.
