Long term remediation of highly polluted acid mine drainage: A sustainable approach to restore the environmental quality of the Odiel river basin

Caraballo, Manuel A.; Macías, Francisco; Rötting, Tobias S.; Nieto, José Miguel; Ayora, Carlos

Long term remediation of highly polluted acid mine drainage: A sustainable approach to restore the environmental quality of the Odiel river basin

2011

Caraballo, Manuel A. | Macías, Francisco | Rötting, Tobias S. | Nieto, José Miguel | Ayora, Carlos

During 20 months of proper operation the full scale passive treatment in Mina Esperanza (SW Spain) produced around 100 mg/L of ferric iron in the aeration cascades, removing an average net acidity up to 1500 mg/L as CaCO₃ and not having any significant clogging problem. Complete Al, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ti and V removal from the water was accomplished through almost the entire operation time while Fe removal ranged between 170 and 620 mg/L. The system operated at a mean inflow rate of 43 m³/day achieving an acid load reduction of 597 g·(m² day)⁻¹, more than 10 times higher than the generally accepted 40 g·(m² day)⁻¹ value commonly used as a passive treatment system designing criteria. The high performance achieved by the passive treatment system at Mina Esperanza demonstrates that this innovative treatment design is a simple, efficient and long lasting remediation option to treat highly polluted acid mine drainage.

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