IJEP 41(1): 114-120 : Vol. 41 Issue. 1 (January 2021)
North-Eastern Hill University, Department of Environmental Studies, Shillong – 793 022
Abstract
Unscientific coal mining in Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya has severely degraded the environment of the area. The water of the area has become highly acidic and contaminated with different impurities making the water unsuitable for domestic and irrigation uses leading to scarcity of clean water in the mining area. Acid mine drainage (AMD) has been recognized as the main cause of water pollution. This calls for an urgent action to improve the quality of water to ease the water stress in the area. Laboratory experiments involving treatment of acidic water using locally available limestone and subsequent filtration through the layers of activated charcoal and sand yielded promising results towards the improvement of water quality. Treatment with limestone raised the pH from 2.8-7.31, well within the acceptable limit. Subsequent filtration improved the water quality further by bringing the values of calcium, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS), alkalinity and metals, such as zinc and aluminium within the acceptable limits prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards. The promising results of the present study can be used for designing suitable filtration units for domestic uses as well as for treatment of stream water for irrigation and ecological purposes.
Keywords
Acid mine drainage, Coal mining, Improvement in water quality, Neutralization by limestone, Filtration with charcoal and sand
References
- Directorate of Mineral Resources. 1985. Technical report of the Directorate of Mineral Resour., Government of Meghalaya, Shillong, Meghalaya.
- Swer, S. and O. P. Singh. 2003. Coal mining impacting water quality and aquatic biodiversity in Jaintia hills district of Meghalaya. Envis Bulletin-Himalayan Ecol., 11:26-33.
- Swer, S. and O. P. Singh. 2004a. Status of water quality in coal mining areas of Meghalaya. National Seminar on Env. eng. with special emphasis on mining env. Proceedings, pp 173-181.
- Blahwar, B., et al. 2012. Use of high-resolution satellite imagery for investigating acid mine drainage from artisanal coal mining in north-eastern India. Geocarto. Int., 27(3):231-247.
- Chabukdhara, M. and O. P. Singh. 2016. Coal mining in northeast India: An overview of env. issues and treatment approaches. Int. J. Coal Sci. and Tech., 3(2):87-96.
- Swer, S. and O. P. Singh. 2004b. Water quality, availability and aquatic life affected by coal mining in ecologically sensitive areas of Meghalaya. 3rd National Seminar on Inland water resour. and env., Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. Proceedings, pp 102-108.
- Somendro, T. and O. P. Singh. 2015. Analysis of landuse/land covers dynamics using remote sensing and GIS techniques: A case study of Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. Int. J. Current Res., 7:11873-11879.
- Lamare R. E., et al. 2019. Landuse/ land cover change in East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya in relation to limestone mining. Env. and Ecol., 37(3A):886-893.
- Wood, C. M. and D. G. McDonald. 1987. The physiology of acid/aluminium stress in trout. Belgium J. Zoology. 117(1):399-410.
- Willhite, C. C., et al. 2014. Systematic review of potential health risks posed by pharmaceutical, occupational and consumer exposures to metallic and nanoscale aluminium, aluminium oxides, aluminium hydroxide and its soluble salts. Critical Reviews in Toxicology. 44:1–80.
- APHA. 2005. Standard methods of chemical analysis of water and wastewater (21st edn). American Public Health Association, Washington D.C.
- Geldenhuys, A. J., et al. 2003. An integrated limestone/lime process for partial sulphate removal. J. Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. 103:345–353.
- BIS. 2012. Specification for drinking water. IS 10500:2012. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
- Brahaita, I. D., et al. 2017. The efficiency of limestone in neutralizing acid mine drainage – A laboratory study. Carpathian J. Earth and Env. Sci., 12(2):347-356.
- Skousen, J., et al. 2017. Review of passive systems for acid mine drainage treatment. Mine Water and the Env., 36(1):133-153.
- Pyrbot, W., et al. 2019. Neutralization of acid mine drainage contaminated water and ecorestoration of stream in a coal mining area of East Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. Mine Water and the Env. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10230-019-00601-9.
- Sun, Q., et al. 2000. Effects of armoring on limestone neutralization of AMD, Division of Plant and Soil Sci., West Virginia University. 1(21-24):21-27.
- Ahamad, K. U. and M. Jawed. 2010. Kinetics, equilibrium and breakthrough studies for Fe (II) removal by wooden charcoal-A low-cost adsorbent. Desalination. 251(1-3):137-145.
- Schutte, F. 2006. Handbook for the operation of water treatment works. Water Research Commission, Republic of South Africa. pp 1-242.
- Al-Rawi, S. M. 2009. Introducing sand filter capping for turbidity removal for potable water treatment plants, Env. Research Center (ERC), Mosul, Iraq. Int. J. Water Resour. and Env. Eng., 1(1):011-019.
- Nemade, P. D., et al. 2009. Removal of iron, arsenic and coliform bacteria from water by novel constructed soil filter system. Ecological Eng., 35(8):1152-1157.
