Self-healing and self-seaming - Sodium bentonite is a naturally occurring clay with a high affinity for water. When hydrated, sodium bentonite swells up to 15 times its original volume. This provides the ability to seal around penetrations, self-heal punctures, and self-seam at the overlaps.
Better hydraulic performance - GCLs have a total thickness of less than one inch and provide better hydraulic performance than several feet of compacted clay. A fully hydrated GCL typically has a permeability of 5 x 10-9 cm/sec, approximately 20 times lower than a typical compacted clay liner permeability.
Resistant to varying weather conditions - GCLs are less likely to be impacted by freeze-thaw or desiccation-rewetting cycles. Freeze-thaw cycles frequently cause compacted clay liners to crack and lead to increased leakage. A geosynthetic clay liner provides consistent performance and is not subject to performance decreases resulting from varying moisture content, density, or clay content, like compacted clay liners.
Ease of installation and increased air space - GCLs are an environmentally friendly alternative to clay liners because they require significantly less installation effort than a compacted clay liner. One truckload of GCL is equivalent to 150 truckloads of compacted clay, thereby using up fewer natural resources. When a GCL is used in place of a thicker compacted clay liner it also takes up less air space, which leaves more room for waste.
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