Problems of Management of Domestic and Industrial Water System in

Mining Environment
Anirban Datta1 and Ashok Kumar Ghosh2
1
Manager – Mechanical & Piping, Richard Design Services India Private Limited
2
Former Technical Director & Head – Water System, M N Dastur & Co. Ltd.;
Sr. Consultant, TATA Consulting Engineers Ltd.
(FD-217/7, Sector-3, Salt Lake City, Kolkata, West Bengal, India, Pin Code – 700106)
ani_dat@yahoo.co.in

Abstract - Any major mining activity not only needs water
as an utility but also causes major modification of
topography, drainage system, forest regime, land use,
geomorphologic characteristics and also causes damage to
the aquifers below earth surface. The aim of mining is to
extract as much raw material as possible. However, with
increasing importance of environmental and ecological
factors in human life and importance of conservation of
water resources the necessity of technically sound water
management in mining environment has become essential.
Development and sustenance of a mining industry needs
water for dust suppression, cleaning and washing, and
mineral processing. In addition water is required for
drinking and sanitation water system inside plant and also
in the township for housing manpower engaged for mining
activities. This paper presents a discussion on identification
of sources of water in mining industry and pumping and
treatment of water and waste water. In addition the paper
presents discussion on conservation of water through
rainwater harvesting and adoption of recirculation system
and zero liquid discharge system. The paper also presents
discussion on surface and ground water management in
mining environment.
Keywords – Open cast mine; Underground mine; Zero liquid
discharge; Rainwater harvesting; Geomorphology; Aquifer.
sustenance. However, mining activities cause deterioration
of water bodies and aquifers in the surrounding
environment.
Major mining activities are associated with change in
topography and create major impact on area drainage both
inside the mining area as well as in the overall basin. Large
opencast mines cause deterioration of water quality of
nearby streams because of dust generation. With the
increase in demand for water the ground water is presently
considered a very essential resource both for domestic
consumption as well as for supporting agricultural
activities particularly during prolonged drought. This needs
careful study of both hydrological and hydro-geological
conditions of the nearby streams and aquifer conditions in
the overall basin. This paper presents a review of the
problem associated with management of domestic water
system and industrial water system in the mining
environment.

INTRODUCTION

With rapid development throughout the world, particularly

in underdeveloped countries the demand for minerals and
metals is increasing at a fast rate. In no other industrial
segment, conflict between economic development and
environmental quality are more apparent than in the mining
industries. The second half of the 20th century saw major
Fig. 1 Mining water management for reduced environmental impact.
advancements in the reclamation technologies. However,
problems associated with deforestation, drinking water MINING SYSTEMS
availability and watershed related problems have not been
addressed seriously. In many cases, polluted mine water
Fundamentally, the mining industry distinguishes between
outlives the life of the mining operation. As the true value
two types of mines:
of long-term water treatment responsibilities has become
1) Deep Mine or Underground Mine: Any mine in which
apparent, interest has grown in the technologies that would
the miner or the machineries work beneath a cover of soil
reduce the production of contaminated water and make its
or rock. The entry to the mine is either through a shaft or
treatment less costly. Mining industry and associated
an incline.
township and nearby rural settlements need water for its
2) Surface Mine or Opencast Mine: Any mine in which the SOURCING OF WATER
miner or the machineries work in an excavated void which
is open to sky. Sourcing of water in a mining project should start from the
Both of these mining activities in different types of coal initial period of identification of mine site. The most
and metal mines affect both surface water and ground reliable source of water is a perennial stream or lake. In
water regime in different manners. Against this situation a most sites the stream is located in the valley at lower level.
mining activity needs water to meet different operational In case nearby streams are not perennial a suitable storage
requirement. has to be created near the mine site. If abandoned mine pits
are available nearby the same can be utilized as a source. If
WATER REQUIREMENT nearby streams are not perennial rivers or streams located
at distances of about 5 km may be identified. As an
In order to develop a reliable water supply system the first alternative exploration for ground water resources will
step is to make an accurate estimate of water requirement. have to be carried out. In hard rock areas large diameter
Water use in mining operation is not very high. Water is dug well may be selected as a source.
required for dust suppression, drinking & sanitation of
workers and operating personnel, servicing and washing of
heavy equipment and plant greeneries. Typically a coal
mine of 5 million tons per annum capacity consumes about
600 m3 per day.
The water requirement of a typical opencast iron ore mine
producing 8 Million Ton per Annum in Jharkhand Orissa
area is presented in TABLE I below.

TABLE I
(TITLE: WATER REQUIREMENT)
Sl. Water Consumer Recircul Make-up Make-up
No. System ation Water Water
Water (m3/day) (m3/hr)
(m3/day)
Once Drilling & 60 6
1 Fig. 2 Typical sourcing of water for mining
through Spraying
(Image Source: www.xylem.com).
Once Dust 250 25
2
through Suppression
Once Drinking at 20 5 Once a source is identified the first task is to establish the
3
through Mine Site reliability of the source. If the source is a surface water
Once Drinking at 200 25 stream it is essential to measure the flow rate as against the
4
through Township
Once Green Belt 300 30 depth of water during dry season and rainy season.
5 through Mine and In order to design an intake structure (Intake Well) the
Township following data are required to be collected:
Once Fire 400 1. River Bed Level at the proposed intake location.
6
through (Emergency)
Process 80010 8001 400
2. High Flood Level (HFL) at proposed intake location.
Recircul Water for 3. River Width at High Flood Level.
7
ation Wet 4. River Bank Level at both banks at proposed bank
beneficiation location.
Recircul Sanitation at 40 9 4 5. Location and height of pick up weir depending on
8
ation Mine Site
Recircul Sanitation at 1000 160 40 selection of pump.
9 6. Deepening (500 mm) of river bed at Intake Location.
ation Township
10
Recircul Equipment 80 16 4 7. Shape of Intake Well – Circular or Rectangular.
ation Washing 8. Height of Intake Well with top of well 500 mm/1000
Ventilation 300 15 5
& Air
mm above HFL.
Recircul Conditioning 9. Opening with gate dimensioned on the basis of
11
ation Mine Site pumping capacity.
and 10. Height of Pump House above Intake Well on the basis
Township
Total 1420 9031 544
of pump type pump motor dimension and crane/hoist
during selection.
12
Normal 11. Silt removal from intake well by silt handling pump.
Working
Total 400 An intake well has the following components:
during
13
Major 1. Gate and Screen at water entry point.
Fire 2. Sump Well for silt removal
3. Maintenance Platform with Entry Ladder or Lugs.
4. Level Indicator
5. Power Source
6. Lighting Arrangement
7. Approach Road
8. Minimum water Level Alarm System
9. Security System.
RAW WATER TREATMENT
In mining area the water source gets contaminated with
dust particles generated through mining operation. In
Barsua Mines it was observed that sometimes the water of
Khuradih nalah contains 10000 – 30000 ppm of iron dust
and water becomes red coloured during peak monsoon.
Since a clariflocculator is not suitable to handle this high
level of suspended solid a thickener was provided to reduce
the suspended solid content from 30000 ppm to 2500 ppm.
Post thickener the water is treated in clariflocculator with
dosing of alum and lime and the treated water is stored in
an on-ground storage reservoir to be filtered in a rapid
gravity sand filtration system to convert the water to
drinking quality water. The filtered quality water is stored
in a sump attached to high head pumping system for
pumping filtered water to on-ground storage tank in
mining/township area.
HIGH HEAD PUMPING SYSTEM
In most of the mining areas the mining activities take place
in the hill top and the township is also located in hill top
but the source of water is located in the valley down below.
Thus a high head pumping system is required to be
provided. An ideal situation is if the pipe routing can
follow a steady rise from the source area upto the terminal
point on hill top. But in most of the cases the pipe routing
follows an undulating path. In the case of Tensa Permanent
Water Supply Scheme the pipe routing had to negotiate a
peak named Bichakhani Peak. The existence of such
intermediate peaks can cause creation of vacuum at the
peak unless the pumping system is designed carefully. One
solution is placement of a robust air release /air entry valve
at the peak. But the problem is that the valve needs
maintenance and security. Since in most of the cases the
location of the peak is in an isolated place and may be
inside a forest it may not be prudent to place a critical item
like Air Release Valve in that area. Thus, a two stage
pumping may be a better solution. However here again the
second stage of pumping must be located in a convenient
location. In order to explain the details of the two stage
pumping system a few approximate basic data on the pipe
routing, pump capacity and pipe dimensions are presented
below:
Filtered Water Storage Tank (A): RL 35 m
Second Stage Pump House Level (B): RL 440m
Pipe Length between A & B: 6500 m
Bichakhani Peak Level (C): RL 555 m
Pipe Length between B & C: 750 m
Filtered Water Storage Tank at Hill Top Township Level
(D): 505 m RL
Pipe length between C & D: 2750m
Capacity of Filter Water Pumps: 200 m3/hr
Pipe Dia.: 200 mm
Pipe Thickness: 9.5 mm
The frictional head loss was calculated using Hazen
Williams Equation:
V = 0.85 x C x R0.633 x S0.54 ------------- (1)
For Stage 1, the frictional head loss is calculated as 167 m.
Thus the total pump head is calculated as 572 m.
For Stage 2 the frictional head is calculated as 90 m. Thus
the total pump head is calculated as 155 m.
Fig. 3 Water pipelines in mining area – running uphill & downhill
For this type of high head pumping one important feature
which needs to be taken care of is pressure transients
known as surge pressure or water hammer. If the velocity
of water flowing in a pipe is suddenly diminished the
energy given up by the water is divided between
compressing the water itself, stretching the pipe walls and
frictional resistance to wave propagation. The water
hammer causes pipes, valves, pipe supports. The excess
head generated due to surge can be calculated by
Joukowsky Equation. A working form of this equation is
given in Manual on Water Supply & Treatment [6] and the
same is presented below:
C = 1425/√(1 + k x d/E x Ct) -------------2(a)
Hmax = C x V0/g ---------------------------2(b)
where,
k = Bulk Modulus of Water = 2.07 x 108 kg/m2.
d = Diameter of Pipe, m
Ct = Wall Thickness of Pipe, m
C = Velocity of Pressure Wave Transmittal, m/sec
V0 = Normal velocity in pipe, m/sec
Hmax = Maximum Pressure Rise in the closed conduit
above the normal pressure rise, m
The velocity of pressure wave transmittal C was calculated
by equation 2(a) and C was calculated to be 1295 m/sec.
The velocity V0 i.e. calculated as 1.77 m/sec and the Hmax
i.e. the maximum pressure rise works out to 234 m.
The maximum surge pressure is generated under the
condition when the pump suddenly stops due to electrical
power failure.
The selection of pump is carried out on the basis of
discharge and total head as calculated above.
The criteria for calculation of pipe thickness on the basis of
pressure rating under following three conditions:
1. Pump operation under total operating head (i.e. static
head plus frictional head loss)
2. Shut off head of pump
3. Pressure head under surge condition due to sudden
stoppage of pump.
TABLE II
(TITLE: DESIGN PRESSURE FOR PIPEWORK)
Sl. Stage of Pump Operating Pump Shut- Conduit
No. Pumping Head (m) off Head (m) Head during
Surge (m)
1 Stage 1 572 600 639
2 Stage 2 155 200 299
The pipe thickness for both stages was selected as 9.5 mm.
DUST SUPPRESSION
Mining activities and storage and transportation of
excavated material produces a serious environmental
problem through generation of dust. Dust suppression
needs water. The conventional system is spraying and
sprinkling of water on mine roads, mine faces, transfer
points in conveyor system, storage and stock piles.
Spraying of water needs large quantity of water and also
creates problem with wetting and disposal of water.
Adequate wetting is extremely important for dust control.
Vast majority of dust particles created during crushing are
not released into the air, but remain attached to the surface
of the broken material. Wetting this broken material
requires application of sufficient quantity of water to
reduce dust. Coal mine operators have been able to reduce
the dust from higher longwall production levels by raising
the shearer water flow rate to an average of 370 litre/min.
[3] & [4]. Compared to the amount of coal mined, on a
weight basis, this 370 litre/min is equivalent to 1.9% added
moisture from the shearer alone. Unfortunately, excessive
moisture levels in coal may also result in lot of materials
handling problems, operational constraints, and product
quality issues, so an upper limit on water use is sometimes
reached rather quickly. As a result, an alternative to simply
adding more water is to ensure that the crushing material is
being wetted uniformly. The water consumption in spray
system can be reduced through use of chemicals to increase
effectivity of dust suppression.
In order to reduce the quantity of water and use the water
more effectively various chemicals can be used with
sprinkler system to reduce the quantity of water. In a
chemical based dust suppression system, a suitable
chemical is used to reduce the surface tension of water,
thereby increasing the dust adhesive power. The chemical
helps in keeping the dust particles agglomerated for a
longer period of time thereby reducing the water
requirement. Dosing/metering pumps are used in the
system to pump the chemical in the desired proportion.
Fig. 4 Dust Suppression System in mining
(Image Source: www.xylem.com).
Recent developments in dust suppression system are based
on use of special nozzles to produce dense fog with small
particles of water [2]. Three (3) such systems are in use
presently [5]:
1) Dry Fog System
2) Cold Fog System
3) Fog Cannon System
Dry fog system controls all types of breathable and fugitive
dust ranging from 1 to 800 microns in size. The system
utilizes a dual fluid water and compressed air that produces
ultrafine droplet. The design of the system needs use of
proper nozzles that can produce a very dense fog of 1 – 10
micron in size of water droplets that can blanket the dust
source. No chemical is required in the system. The water
retention is 0.1% to 0.5% of the material handled.
With a further improvement in nozzle design an improved
version of dust suppression is achieved with Cold Fog
system. Cold Fog does not need a compressor but needs
very pure water and a captive water treatment plant. 99%
of the droplets are within 1-15 micron size and result in
superior agglomeration. Absence of air infusion creates
high density stable fog. Moisture addition is 0.03 to 0.05%
of total material handled.
Another improved dust suppression system in open areas is
Fog Cannon system. The Fog Cannon system can suppress
95% of airborne dust particles. The smaller units are ideal
for suppressing dust where it is generated in high
concentration in stock piles. Large units are suitable for
high volume of dust generated during blasting of mineral
face.
WASTE WATER TREATMENT & ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE
SYSTEM
The water used for floor cleaning and equipment washing
produces dust laden water mixed with oil. This needs a
waste water treatment plant with a scale pit equipped with
scraper and oil skimmer. The treated waste water can be
recirculated and reused for floor cleaning & equipment
washing.
Fig. 5 Zero Liquid Discharge System.
Sewage generated in plant and township can be treated in a
common sewage treatment plant and the generated effluent
can be used for irrigation for plant greeneries and reuse in
toilet flushing.
Thus all waste polluted water is proposed to be treated in
suitable treatment plant and treated effluent should be
reused to have a zero discharge plant.
RAIN WATER HARVESTING
The rainwater in the mining area can be collected from roof
top and drainage channels and can be stored in storage
ponds or tanks and can be reused as make up water. Excess
water generated during peak rainfall can be used to
recharge the underground aquifer system.
SURFACE WATER MANAGEMENT
For a mine the Surface water management is relevant to the
following three cases:
1. Diversion of Nallahs & Channels flowing through the
Mine Block carrying water from outside catchment
2. Major rivers flowing through the block which cannot
be diverted
3. Drainage of water generated inside the mine property
from rainfall in the mine block area.
Development of a virgin plant site for Mining and
associated Township needs elaborate site levelling
activities. These activities bring major change in the
overall drainage system.
GROUND WATER MANAGEMENT
Any mining activity disturbs the hydrologic cycle of the
region. Negative effects are produced in both ground and
surface waters by opencast and underground workings.
Mining hydrogeology has been gaining importance in
recent years with fast growth and opening of large scale
mines in complex structural and hydrogeological
conditions. A high level of knowledge regarding
hydrogeological conditions of a deposit is useful, not only
for securing adequate conditions for exploitation of the raw
material but also for the study of changes in the ecology of
the landscape. The basic prerequisite of the safe operation
in an opencast mine is to gain control over the water inflow
into the mine from rainwater and the drainage of aquifers
around the mine zone service both before and during the
exploitation operations. The earth’s immediate subsurface
is a reaction front between the atmosphere (generally
oxidizing and acidic) and the geosphere (generally
reducing and basic) [1]. Groundwater is the circulating
medium which carries atmospheric reactants (oxygen,
carbon dioxide) into the geosphere. The zone of
groundwater circulation is typically the zone where redox
and acid-base reactions take place.
REFERENCES
[1] Banks D, Geochemical Processes Controlling Mine Water
Pollution, Ground Water Management in Mining Areas,
Proceedings of the 2nd IMAGE-TRAIN, Pécs, Hungary, June 23 -27,
2003, pp. 20
[2] Chakravarti S & Chakravorti U S, Advanced Technologies for Dust
Free Environment, Indian Power Stations Power Plant O & M
Event: Anchored by NTPC, Proceedings, New Delhi February, 13 –
15, 2010
[3] Colinet J F, Spencers E R, Jankowski R.A, Status of Dust Control
Technology on U.S. Longwalls, In Ramani R.V. edited, Proceedings
of the Sixth International Mine Ventilation Congress, 1997
[4] Colinet J F, Rider J P, Listak J M, Organiscak J A and Wolfe A L,
Best Practices for Dust Control in Coal Mining, Information
Circular no 9517, Department of Health and Human Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, January 2010
[5] Kissell, F N, Dust Control Methods in Tunnels & Underground
Mines, Chapter 1, Handbook for Dust Control in Mining, US
Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service,
Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for
Occupational; Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory
Pittsburgh PA, June 2003.
[6] Ministry of Urban Development, Manual on Water Supply &
Treatment, Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering
Organization, New Delhi, May 1999.