There are various types of soil surveys. A soil investigation may be necessary when selling a home or business premises, for the commissioning or removal of a fuel storage tank, for a building permit or due to health issues. A soil survey can be requested on your own initiative, at the request of a potential buyer, or required by the government. In this article, an explanation of the different types of soil surveys and aspects that you should pay attention to.
Content
- What types of soil surveys are there?
- What are the consequences of a soil investigation?
- Which company should opt for an affordable soil investigation?
What types of soil surveys are there?
There are different types of soil surveys. Examples of soil investigations are explained in more detail below.
Historical soil survey
During a historical soil survey, the history of a location is mapped, looking for potential pollution sources or calamities from the past and present.
Inventory or exploratory soil investigation
An inventory soil investigation provides a first insight into any contamination present. This is done by installing various bores and monitoring wells. The soil can be examined for a huge number of parameters. These preliminary studies enable more targeted (and therefore better and cheaper) research in the follow-up process.
Exploratory soil investigation
An exploratory soil investigation mainly takes place when there are already suspicions of soil contamination. It is therefore usually focused on suspicious (partial) locations and contaminants that have arisen from, for example, historical soil research. Based on an exploratory investigation, it can be determined whether further investigation is necessary.
Further investigation
If contaminants have come to light during the aforementioned soil investigations, it may be necessary to carry out a further soil investigation. With the aid of a further soil investigation, the contaminants are better mapped by measurements placed even more precisely. It seems strange that a soil investigation is carried out in several steps, but this is often the best from a cost point of view. Because you start globally and zoom in more and more specifically, you ensure that you do not have to place unnecessary drillings to map an entire location.
Baseline soil investigation and final situation soil investigation
These investigations are mainly carried out at business locations where soil-threatening activities take place or will take place. Examples of soil-threatening activities are working with chemicals, oil, and so on. By identifying the soil quality prior to (baseline situation) and after (final situation) of certain soil-threatening activities, it can be established whether the business activities have contaminated the soil. It can also be established that contaminants found were already present before the start of the business activities. This can also be beneficial for the companies as certain claims can be avoided.
What are the consequences of a soil investigation?
As a result of a soil investigation, it may be the case that contaminants found must be cleaned up. This is called a remediation. Fortunately, this is not always the case. A soil investigation can therefore also give a positive conclusion about a location, making this location as ?? clean ?? may see. This considerably simplifies the sale of a lot, for example.
Which company should opt for an affordable soil investigation?
The costs for a soil investigation can be very high. That is why it is always advisable to request quotes from several companies. The prices can vary enormously. Please note any additional prices that are charged when certain observations are made. It may be the case that in the case of, for example, a sensory perception, extra drillings have to be placed that possibly increase the total costs.
You should only have a soil investigation carried out by a recognized company, as the government will only approve those investigations.