Long-Term Hydraulic Conductivity and Cation Exchange of a Geosynthetic Clay Liner (GCL) Permeated with Inorganic Salt Solutions

Hydraulic conductivity tests were conducted on a geosynthetic clay liner (GCL) for more than 2.5 yr using inorganic salt solutions to evaluate how the long-term hydraulic conductivity is affected by cation concentration and valence. Only small changes (i.e., $\leq$ 2X) in hydraulic conductivity (K) occurred during the test duration when the permeant solution was deionized (DI) water or 100 mM KCl and NaCl solutions. For weak CaCl$_2$ solutions ($\leq$ 20 mM), the hydraulic conductivities initially (< 0.2 yr) were comparable to the hydraulic conductivity obtained with DI water, but gradually increased by a factor of 2 to 13 over a period of nearly 2 yr. In contrast, the GCL permeated with strong CaCl$_2$ solutions ($\geq$ 50 mM) reached equilibrium nearly immediately, with a hydraulic conductivity approximately 2 orders of magnitude higher than the hydraulic conductivity to DI water.