Simplified soil washing processes for a variety of soils

A soil washing process is described in which high shear mixing, sprays, hydrosizing, flotation, and screening are integrated to countercurrently clean sand, silt and clay. Chemical techniques are summarized that can be used to remove selected contaminants from the soil and then clean the wash water for reuse. Descriptions of simple and complex processes, and a recent project are used to illustrate the points: (1) Soil washing is not a single process, but a collection of unit operations assembled for each project; (2) all process must be coordinated for the project to be successful; and (3) combining techniques in a few pieces of equipment debottlenecks soil washing.