ABSTRACT
The Buen Paso reservoir, located in the island of Tenerife (Spain), was waterproofed with a PVC-P geomembrane with a polyester fabric. After 66 months, due to its poor condition, caused by a rapid loss of plasticizer, it was decided to re-waterproof the reservoir with a HDPE geomembrane, which was placed directly over the PVC-P geomembrane, without any kind of geosynthetic between them. The placement of the two geomembranes, in direct contact, makes the Buen Paso reservoir an opportunity to study the possible interaction between the two materials. To study the possible interaction between HDPE and PVC-P geomembranes, samples of the PVC-P geomembrane were extracted under the HDPE geomembrane and the content of plasticizer was determined. In addition, migration tests were performed on HDPE samples according to the UNE-EN ISO 177 standard. It has been proven that the PVC-P geomembrane has continued losing plasticizer and the migration of plasticizer to the HDPE geomembrane.
