Impact of underground coal mining on surface water and ground water quality
Journal Title: Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES) - Year 2015, Vol 7, Issue 4
Abstract
Groundwater contamination and depletion resulting from underground coal mining activities is a worldwide environmental problem. The pumping of groundwater from flooded columns during underground coal mining deteriorates the quality of water and also depletes it. Heavy metals occurring in the earth’s crust naturally can interact with water. Direct interaction of water with naturally occurring heavy metals in earth’s crust or coal can contaminate water. Groundwater and surface water samples around coal mine area, located at Kallar Kahar, Pakistan were analyzed for Zinc, Cadmium, Lead, Iron, Manganese, Chromium, Nickel, Mercury and Copper concentrations. The analysis showed that the concentration of Iron as compared to other heavy metals was higher. The concentration of Cadmium and Copper was also noticeably high. Copper concentration in water samples ranged from 4.7ppm to 7.8ppm while the concentration of cadmium ranged from 0ppm to 10ppm. All samples contained lead ranging from 0.006ppm to 0.027ppm. Whereas Chromium and Zinc was below detectable limit. No trace of manganese was found in any of the groundwater and surface water samples collected from the mines and the pond. Monitoring wells should be established in the surrounding area to check the contamination of groundwater and instead of coal cleaner fuels should be considered to reduce the need for coal mining.
Authors and Affiliations
Sana Akhtar, Maryam Khalid, Almas Hamid
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP38638
- DOI -
- Views 131
- Downloads 0
South Khorasan Province, Iran the largest Producer of Berberis vulgaris in the world: Investigation of Tannin Content in the Fruit
South Khorasan province which is located in South East of Iran, possesses a vast variety of plants enriched of pharmacological components. One of these valuable plant is barberry (Berberis vulgaris. family Berberidaceae...
Antifungal potential of Gymnospermic cones against Panama wilt fungus (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense)
Yield of commercial banana plantations across the world is tremendously affected by vascular wilt (Panama disease) of banana, caused by a soil-borne hyphomycete Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense. Six Gymnospermic cones e...
Potential of legume diversification in soil fertility management and food security for resource poor farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Declines in soil fertility and its effect on crop production is a major problem in sub Saharan Africa. It is a major factor limiting crop production and consequently food security in agrarian communities. The causes of s...
Optimization of formulation of gluten-free biscuit based on rice flour and soybean flour by RSM
This study used responece surface methodology (RSM) based on a central composite design to investigate the influence of rice flour, soybean flour, lecithin and their combination on gluten-free biscuit. Biscuits with dif...
Origin of water salinity in Annaba aquifer system, North-Eastern Algeria
The Annaba area hosts in its underground a water potential of great importance. In fact, it is one of the Algerian plains where groundwater is subject to over-pumping. Moreover, the expansion of farmlands and the develop...