The restoration of soil quality at degraded sites is an important part of land management. Two of the major problems associated with these types of sites are poor water holding capacity of the soil and toxic levels of heavy metals, bothof which may significantly inhibit the establishment of vegetation. Coal fly ash is a waste product that has the potential to be a useful soil ameliorant as it known to improve the water holding capacity of soils. The use of coal fly ash as a soil amendment also has the potential to reduce the level of plant available heavy metals present in the soil. This paper discusses the sorption of three heavy metals (Cd, Cu and Zn) to the coal fly ash.

Batch and column experiments were conducted to examine the adsorption and desorption of Cd, Cu and Zn to the coal fly ash as a function of concentration and solution pH. The competitive effect of the sorption of these metals to the flyash has also been examined The results from this study will be discussed in terms of using the flyash as a soil amendment at degraded landsites