J. Inst. Eng. India Ser.
A
DOI 10.1007/s40030-016-0165-z
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
Fly Ash Disposal in Ash Ponds: A Threat to Ground Water
Contamination
R. K. Singh1 • N. C. Gupta2 • B. K. Guha3
Received: 8 June 2015 / Accepted: 4 July 2016
Ó The Institution of Engineers (India) 2016
Abstract Ground water contamination due to deposition
of fly ash in ash ponds was assessed by simulating the
disposal site conditions using batch leaching test with fly
ash samples from three thermal power plants. The periodic
analysis of leachates was performed for selected elements,
Fe, Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb and Cd in three different extraction
solutions to determine the maximum amount that can be
leached from fly ash. It was observed that at low pH value,
maximum metals are released from the surface of the ash
into leachate. The average concentration of these elements
found in ground water samples from the nearby area of ash
ponds shows that almost all the metals except ‘Cr’ are
crossing the prescribed limits of drinking water. The con-
centration of these elements at this level can endanger
public health and environment.
Keywords Ash ponds
Fly ash

Ground water contamination
Leaching medium

Thermal power plants
& R. K. Singh
rksingh.evs@gmail.com
1
University School of Biotechnology, Guru Gobind Singh
Indraprastha University, Dwarka, New Delhi 110078, India
2 grouped into three broad categories: (a) Upstream method,
University School of Environment Management, Guru
Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Dwarka, New Delhi
110078, India
3
Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
Introduction
In India, at present about 170 million tonnes of fly ash are
produced by more than 90 thermal power plants every year.
It is expected that more and more thermal power plants will
be commissioned in the near future to meet the demand of
energy. As per the estimates, fly ash generation is expected
to increase to about 225 million tonnes by 2017 in India
[1]. Disposal of fly ash and bottom ash are today’s burning
problems as they have been considered as a serious oper-
ational constraint and environmental health hazard [2].
Migration of contaminants from waste disposal sites to
surrounding ecosystem is a complex process. Soil and
water contamination around an ash disposal site [3], has
recently been the subject of research work world over.
Trace elements present on the surface of ash particles are
readily leached [4–6], and tend to contaminate the
groundwater [7, 8]. Toxicity of a surrounding ecosystem
results due to increase in metal concentrations beyond their
threshold values. Groundwater pollution due to landfills
has been studied by several researchers [9–14]. The com-
mon practice for disposal of fly ash in India is by wet
disposal methods, where the ash is mixed with water and
discharged as slurry for settlement in ponds. The super-
natants from the ash ponds are discharged into a receiving
system and then finally discharged into a natural aquatic
drainage system like a river. The bituminous type of coal is
used by these thermal power plants; the fly ash materials
studied in this work belongs to ‘‘Class F’’ category [15].
The constructional methods for an ash pond can be
(b) Downstream method and (c) Centerline method. Fig-
ure 1 shows typical ash dyke raising configurations. The
construction procedure of an ash dyke includes surface
treatment of lagoon ash, spreading and compaction,
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Fig. 1 Ash dyke raising
benching and soil cover. Groundwater and surface water
are fundamentally interconnected and it is very difficult to
separate the two because they feed each other. This is why
one can contaminate the other. Water is an ideal solvent;
some products placed on or in the soil will eventually end
up in the ground water [16]. The leaching potential of
heavy metals from an open system (fly ash pond) is
expected to be greater due to diurnal and seasonal variation
in temperature, moisture content and other parameters.
Leaching, movement of water through materials containing
soluble components significantly influences the surround-
ing soil, groundwater and surface water. The leaching
potential of heavy metals depends on the alkaline or acidic
condition of the aqueous environment.
If a methodology could be developed to predict the
potential of heavy metals to leach out of fly ash it can be
beneficial in a number of ways. Such a methodology will
help to determine the impact of fly ash on the environment.
Similarly, it can be used to determine the amount of dif-
ferent metals that can be recovered from fly ash leachates,
provided appropriate procedures for metal extraction from
fly ash leachate are available. The purpose of this study is
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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A
to evaluate the established procedures that classify ashes
for safe disposal by determining the concentration of major
and trace elements in fly ash produced from coal com-
bustion by coal based thermal power plants and its impact
on the quality of ground water.
Materials and Method
Reagents and Solution Preparations
All the chemicals used were of analytical grade reagents
obtained from E. Merck, Germany. A fresh stock of stan-
dard solutions for Fe, Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb and Cd were prepared
by dissolving a weighed amount of the respective salt in
deionized water. The working standard solution was pre-
pared by appropriate dilution of the stock solution. Three
extraction solutions were taken for the study, namely
Extraction Fluid (pH 4.93 ± 0.05),
Aqueous Solution (pH 7 ± 0.25) and
Buffer Solution (pH 10 ± 0.50).
J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A

Sample Collection and Preparations
10 kg of fresh fly ash samples were collected from all three
thermal power plants (i.e. TPP-I TPP-II and TPP-III).
Groundwater samples from the nearby area of the ash pond
sites of these thermal power plants were also collected. For
each extraction, fly ash (12.50 g) and extraction solution
(250 mL) were mixed in 500 mL polyethylene bottle in
triplicate. After specific time extraction the bottles were left
for 5 min of settling and the supernatant was collected, filtered
through 0.45 lm fiber filters. Then the solution was acidified
with two drops of (70 %) trace metal grade HNO3, and it was
stored in acid-washed 300-mL glass bottles with caps.
Ground Water Samples
Ground water sampling was done as per the Central Pollution
Control Board, India guidelines. For this polyethylene bot-
tles with 1000 mL capacity were taken. The sampling bottles
were rinsed three times with the representative sample before
it was filled. A small air space in the bottle was provided to
allow mixing of samples at the time of analysis.
Procedure for the Extraction of Selected Elements
and its Analysis
Shake test [17] is an agitated extraction method that uses
reagent water as the leaching fluid. The procedure involves a
different contact period between a solid waste and reagent
water with rotary agitator. The shake extraction test was
performed using a specially fabricated extraction apparatus
set at 100 RPM, with an L/S ratio of 20:1. Blank controls are
prepared for each extraction medium to exclude the back-
ground content for all elements and remove the uncertainty
come from the blank. The shake tests were done by using the
12.5 gm of air dried fly ash with 250 ml of extraction solution
over varying periods of leaching. Batch extractions of the
fresh ash samples collected for this work was performed to
evaluate the release of selected elements from the ash at
different time period. Bottles were rotated end-over-end for
specified time increments ranging from 1 week to 4 weeks in
extraction apparatus. The rotation of the extraction apparatus
was fixed by RPM controlling device. In the present work six
metal ions were selected for their leaching behavior. These
metals are Iron (Fe), Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Chromium
(Cr), Lead (Pb) and Cadmium (Cd).
candidates for release into the aqueous environment [18].
Release of trace elements depending on a number of fac-
tors, such as the pH of the aqueous media, properties of the
ash itself (acidic or alkaline), mode of occurrence of trace
elements and properties of aqueous media, etc. At lower
pH value maximum metals are released from the surface of
the ash into leachate. As the pH increases the dissolution of
metals from ash surface decreases. This is probably
attributable to the fact that at higher pH these elements are
precipitated to some extent as their insoluble hydroxides
and their presences at later stages is due to lowering of pH.
The concentration of the elements has been varying con-
siderably in each analysis. It was observed that agitation
time probably influenced the pH and the concentration of
different elements leached into the solution since different
phases are dissolved at different rates. The leaching test
results of Fe, Cu, Ni, Cr, Pb and Cd in different leaching
mediums are presented in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
respectively.
Leaching of Iron
The leaching of iron in fly ash fluctuates over time with
extraction fluid, buffer solution and aqueous media. The
leachability does not reach stability in the leaching process
in all three extraction solution. The leachability of Fe is
higher when the fly ash is mixed with the extraction fluid.
The highest leachability approaches 0.210 mg/L in aque-
ous solution, 0.581 mg/L in buffer solution and 0.601 mg/
L in extraction fluid.

Results and Discussions

The leaching test results were plotted to observe the trends

in leaching patterns. Trace metals present on the surface of
fly ash particles are the most immediately available Fig. 2 Leaching of iron

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Fig. 3 Leaching of copper

Fig. 5 Leaching of chromium

Fig. 4 Leaching of nickel

Leaching of Copper

The leachability of Cu fluctuates over time with buffer

solution, aqueous solution and extraction fluid. The
leachability does not reach stability in the leaching process
in any of the leaching medium. It is seen that leachability
of Cu is higher when the fly ash is mixed with the
extraction fluid. The highest leachability approaches
0.062 mg/L in aqueous solution, 0.0.078 mg/L in buffer
solution and 0.226 mg/L in extraction fluid.
Fig. 6 Leaching of lead
Leaching of Nickel
Whether the fly ash leaching characteristics are studied
with buffer solution the leachability of Ni increases sub-
stantially over time. The leachability is found on higher

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J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A

leachability of Pb is slightly higher when the fly ash is

mixed with the extraction fluid. The highest leachability
approaches 0.256 mg/L in aqueous solution, 0.385 mg/L in
buffer solution and 0.526 mg/L in extraction fluid. Like
Iron, Lead is easy to enrich in the surface of the fly ash
particles. The leaching characteristics of Pb are closely
associated with minerals characteristics of dissolving [19].

Leaching of Cadmium

The leachability of Cd in all three leachants is not

stable and has no significant difference in leaching in dif-
ferent solution. The leachability does not reach stability in
the leaching process in any of the leachant. The leacha-
bility of Cd is slightly higher when the fly ash is mixed
with the extraction fluid. The highest leachability approa-
ches 0.129 mg/L in aqueous solution, 0.146 mg/L in buffer
solution and 0.100 mg/L in extraction fluid. The previous
researches [20] indicate that Cd is rich in the surface of fly
ash particles so it is easy to leach out in fly ash.

Fig. 7 Leaching of cadmium Concentration of Trace Elements in Ground Water

side with the extraction fluid medium than aqueous and
buffer solution.
Leaching of Chromium
Whether the fly ash leaching is with aqueous solution or
extraction fluid, the leachability of Cr rises significantly
with the time. The leachability is on higher side with the
extraction fluid solution as compared to aqueous and buffer
solution. 50–90 % of chromium is enriched in the organic
matter in coal, and 10–50 % exists in clay minerals and
only a small amount of chromium occurs in sulphides [19].
Leaching of Lead
The leachability of Pb does not reach stability in the
leaching process in any of the leachant medium. The
Three sets of ground water samples were collected from the
nearby area of ash ponds for each thermal power plants. As
given in Table 1, the average concentration of trace ele-
ments found in the ground water samples, shows that
almost all the metals are crossing the prescribed limit of
drinking water. This may be due to leaching of these trace
elements from the fly ash.
Conclusions
The results of batch shake tests with pre-leached fly ash
indicate the release of trace elements into extraction
medium continuously over a period of time. The release of
heavy metals from the ash into all extraction medium
strongly depends on the pH of fly ash and its development
during interaction with the leaching solution used. Irregular

Table 1 Concentration of trace elements in ground water and Drinking Water Quality Standards (BIS, 1991)
Parameter BIS (1991) Average concentration of trace elements in ground water samples near ash ponds
P, mg/l E, mg/l TPP-I TPP-II TPP-III

Iron 0.300 1.000 0.310 0.400 1.432

Chromium 0.050 0.050 0.044 0.038 0.054
Copper 0.050 1.500 0.348 0.320 0.032
Cadmium 0.010 0.010 0.049 0.055 0.019
Lead 0.050 0.050 0.005 BDL 0.062
Nickel 0.020 0.020 0.507 0.500 0.024
WHO guidelines, P Permissible limit, E Excessive limit

123

pattern of these six heavy metals released have been
obtained in leachates [3]. In the ground water samples near
the ash ponds of all three thermal power plants are crossing
the prescribed limits. Due to the presence of hazardous
element in large amount of coal fly ash, disposal of fly ash
has drawn great attention regarding public health and the
environment. As conventional approaches for fly ash dis-
posal, either in a landfill or on-site impoundment storage,
cannot circumvent the interactions between fly ash and the
aqueous phase, metal or toxic elements leaching is
inevitable throughout the time of storage. Therefore, fly ash
is disposed of in ash pond with probably high environ-
mental damage and the possibility of leaching of heavy
metals increases. A combination of suitable disposal
techniques and an increase in utilization of fly ash in
construction sector seems necessary steps to combat the
environmental problems associated with the fly ash gen-
eration and its safe disposal. The technology used for coal
ash disposal system should control the migration of lea-
chate from ash to ground water. The technology may
include methods like liner system, leachate collection
system, waste cover, etc.
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