The impact of polluted wastewater on water quality of the Bor River and surrounding groundwater

Abstract

Due to the immediate vicinity of the mining and industrial facilities, the water pollution in the Bor River is extremely high. Sources of the Bor River pollution are active and inactive mining operations (surface and underground), flotation tailing dumps, waste rock dumps from the open pit, waste water generated in the process of copper ore processing and municipal wastewater. The Bor River basin has an area of approximately 61.0 km². Maximum length of the river flow is about 10.0 km with an altitude difference of 160 m. The Bor River belongs to the basin of the Bela River, the basin of the River Timok or the Danube basin. In its course, it runs through the village of Slatina, connecting downstream of the village with the Krivelj River and Ravna River forming the Bela River. The Bela River, downstream from the village of Vražogrnac flows into the River Veliki Timok, which empties into the Danube [1] [2]. Wastewater from the mining and industrial facilities are still discharged directly into the river, so the water pollution in the river has also a large impact on the ground water pollution, especially in the area of the village of Slatina, located downstream from the town of Bor. In addition to the waste water, discharged into the Bor River, the major threat to the environment is also a large amount of flotation tailings, located on the coast of this river, which, due to the frequent accidents, occurred in the Bor Flotation Plant during the last century, was directly discharged into the Bor River [3]. This paper work gives a detailed overview of the quality of surface and groundwater both of the Bor River and water polluting of this river.

Keywords

• bor river
• waste water
• underground water
• pollution