The decontamination of large areas from Japanese knotweed by steaming is further advancing. After the association for sewage treatment Offenburg and the regional board Freiburg have successfully used hot steam to control knotweed in 2009, the regional board Karlsruhe follows their example.
At the beginning of November three large areas close to the city of Sinzheim were steamed by the steaming specialists MSD Corp., Durbach and Mobildampf, Waiblingen.
Although the regional board Freiburg had had the contaminated areas excavated down to 20 cm depth and the material steamed in specially prepared tipping trailers, the regional board Karlsruhe decided to treat 2 of the 3 areas with the classic method of sheet steaming.
For this purpose the soil was loosened down to 30 cm depth before steaming. After that the area was covered with heat resistant sheets, weighted at the edges and steamed for three to four hours. The soil of the third area was excavated down to 20 cm depth, steamed and put back to its original location.
In case that the positive results in 2009 can be achieved as well, more areas will be treated in the same way.
