Abstract: Some Polish coal mines are reviewed with respect to the disposal of saline wastewater into rivers and its environmental impact. The drainage water from mines has a daily contribution of, in the order of magnitude, 6,500 tons chlorides (Cl-) and 0.5 tons sulphates (SO42-) to the rivers Wisla and Odra. The river Wisla contributes to about 55 % of the water resources in Poland. This report is based on a part of a commission for the Ministry of Environmental Protection, National Resources and Forestry ofPoland by COWI-VBB VIAK joint venture.Different treatment and disposal schemes are described and compared from a technical-economical point of view, out of which methods for desalination with zero discharge as well as deep well injection are the most promising ones.The desalination methods include reverse osmosis (RO) plant, thermal powered desalination and crystallization plant as well as facilities for dewatering and drying of sodium chloride (NaCl) to be sold in Poland and/or on the export market, The valuable main products are potable water, boiler feed water and sodium chloride. A special problem in this connection may be the radioactivity in the wastewater from some of the mines. Special treatment methods for radioactivity removal in the selected treatment and disposal scheme for the mine wastewater are discussed with respect to the effects of radioactivity on the saleability of the recovered salt. In addition methods for recovery of the by-products magnesium hydroxide, iodine and bromine are considered from the point of view of economy and environmental protection.Finally, the desalination project in Katowice for the coal mines Debiensko and Budryk is now in the end of the construction phase. Some modifications of the original design ace shown.

Abstract: Many industries produce a waste-water stream high in heavy metals. Disposal of sludge from these wastewater treatment plants has become increasingly difficult and expensive in the US due to passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act's 'land disposal ban' for hazardous wastes. Innovative methods can be found for dealing with such wastes. For example, in performing a mandated clean-up under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Asarco's California Gulch water-treatment plant in Colorado meets CERCLA clean-up goals while using a waste water treatment sludge as a smelter feedstock, recovering incidental saleable metals, and producing non-hazardous products. In this plant, Asarco treats acidic mine-drainage water having high metal concentrations and uses the waste sludge generated as a lime replacement in lead smelting operations. -Author

Abstract: The water treatment performances of two anoxic limestone drains (ALDs) were evaluated. Anoxic limestone drains are buried beds of Limestone that are intended to add bicarbonate alkalinity to flow-through acid mine drainage. Both ALDs received mine water contaminated with Fe2+ (216-279 mg L(-1)) and Mn (41-51 mg L(- 1)). Flow through the Howe Bridge ALD increased alkalinity by an average 128 mg L(-1) (CaCO3 equivalent) and Ca by 52 mg L(- 1), while concentrations of Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, and SO42- were unchanged. The Morrison ALD increased alkalinity by an average 248 mg L(-1) and Ca by 111 mg L(-1). Concentrations of K, Mg, Mn, and SO42- all decreased by an average 17%, an effect attributed to dilution with uncontaminated water. Iron, which decreased by 30%, was partially retained within the Morrison ALD. Calcite dissolution was enhanced at both sites by high P- CO2. Untreated mine waters at the Howe Bridge and Morrison sites had average calculated P-CO2 values of 6.39 kPa (10(- 1.20) atm) and 9.24 kPa (10(-1.04) atm), respectively. At both sites, concentrations of bicarbonate alkalinity stabilized at undersaturated values (SICalcite = 10(-1.2) at Howe Bridge and 10(-0.8) at Morrison) after flowing through approximately half of the limestone beds. Flow through the second half of each ALD had little additional effect on mine water chemistry. At the current rates of calcite solubilization, 17.9 kg d(-1) CaCO3 at Howe Bridge and 2.7 kg d(-1) CaCO3 at Morrison, the ALDs have theoretical effective lifetimes in excess of 20 yr. By significantly increasing alkalinity concentrations in the mine waters; both ALDs increased metal removal in downstream constructed wetlands.