The 1984 Amendments to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) specify that bulk liquid wastes which have been stabilized /solidified for land disposal must not release the liquid under the mechanical pressures experienced in a landfill. How to determine this property has not yet been specified. In response to the need for a simple, yet highly effective test device to evaluate the tendency of a stabilized waste to release liquid, the author's company has developed a test apparatus and a test procedure. This simple tester distinguishes between stabilized wastes which will release liquids under pressure on a pass/ fail basis.

The tester utilizes a 100-g sample that requires only minimal sample preparation. The test duration is 5 min. The only expendables are readily available paper filters, and the system requires only a balance and compressed air for operation.

The effects of test pressure, test duration, and sample cure time were evaluated. Results may be compared with other test procedures for evaluating stabilized waste.