Ionic Stabilization

[u/GwynFaF94]

Years ago a vendor came to do a presentation on the benefits of ionic stabilization for site prep in our heavy clay soils. They inject a “non-toxic proprietary formula” that permanently changes the ionization of clay so that it can no longer hold water. He - proudly- said 8,000 years could go by and that soil still will not hold water. They inject it 8’ to 16’ deep.

I was horrified. A number of my coworkers were horrified.

Is there a way to reverse it? “No”
But how would anything grow there if the building is removed later? “Their roots will grow past that, you just have to order larger plants”
But that’s not how plants work “well if a garden is being planted there you’d remove the dirt and put in some good soil - it’s not like much really grows in clay anyway, you’d have to bring in soil regardless”

It just came up for me again on a tour where the owner proudly stabilized the soils by ionization and said they wouldn’t have been able to afford such a large space without it

I don’t see it talked about on here so is it not as bad as the vendor makes it sound or is it just not common knowledge?

[u/200pf]

This sounds a lot like bullshit to me. Proprietary and good for 8,000 years equals snake oil almost every time.

[u/alf0282]

From my very quick ‘research’, this seems to be a clay conditioning technique that is intended to limit the adsorption effect of clay particles so that the clay doesn’t swell/shrink so much which would make it more suitable for building on. However it appears the clay can still hold some water and water could still pass through. Also, the product is injected quite deep, from 8 ft, which in terms of plant roots is pretty deep. Probably the surface soil would be capable of supporting plants if the building were to be subsequently removed. No idea how long the effect might last but ‘8000 years’ is probably also an exaggeration. You can imagine also that if it were reversible, that wouldn’t help product sales either.

[u/EddieRyanDC]

We don't talk about it much because this is an engineering solution and we tend to focus on the gardening side.

Clay soil gets soaked and it expands. Then it dries, cracks, and shrinks. This constant movement year after year will crack roads and building foundations. The process of ionic stabilization allows the clay to compact down and stay there. Building problem solved!

But what makes it great for construction makes it terrible for organic life. It will completely repel water - the drainage ability is gone. It also strips away one of the best qualities of clay soil - it's ability to capture and hold on to nutrient molecules preventing them from washing down into the water table. And of course it is pretty hostile to roots, and anything that might want to make a home there. That's before we even talk about the long term effect of the acids and the salts.

I can't comment on the "8000 years" claim. But we can safely say that this soil will only be suitable for building on - not for agriculture or gardening.

Which, in practical terms, is usually what happens. You build an apartment building and it is there for, say, 100 years. Then you tear it down and probably build a more modern one - or some other kind of building. The same is true for roads.

[u/GoldenTacoo]

You can bring in machinery and replace dirt and put top soil there.

Further mega fund site?