Electrocoagulation with an Al sacrificial anode was tested for the separation of chelant and heavy metals from a washing solution obtained after leaching Pb (3200 ring kg(-1)), Zn (1100 ring kg(-1)), and Cd (21 mg kg(-1)) contaminated soil with EDTA. In the electrochemical process, the sacrificial anode corroded to release Al3+ which served as coagulant for precipitation of chelant and metals. A constant current density of 16-128 mA cm(-2) applied between the Al anode and the stainless-steel cathode removed up to 95% Pb, 68% Zn and 66% Cd from the soil washing solution. Approximately half of the initial EDTA remained in the washing solution after treatment, up to 16.3% of the EDTA was adsorbed on Al coagulant and precipitated, the rest of the EDTA was degraded by anodic oxidation. In a separate laboratory-scale remediation experiment, we leached a soil with 40 mmol EDTA per kg of soil and reused the washing solution (after electrocoagulation) in a closed loop. It removed 53% of Pb, 26% of Zn and 52% of Cd from the soil. The discharge solution was clear and colourless, with pH 7.52 and 170 mg L-1 Pb, 50 mg L-1 Zn, 1.5 mg L-1 Cd and 11 mM EDTA. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.