The Influence of Acidic Mine Waters on Physico-Chemical Processes in the Aquatic Environment

Abstract

Acidic mine drainage (AMD) discharged from the abandoned Smolník mine (Pech shaft, Slovakia) contaminates surface water in the Smolník creek due to the decreasing pH and the production of heavy metals. Mixing AMD with surface waters results in an increase in pH, which affects the metal precipitation. Using statistical methods, the effect of pH on the concentration of selected metals (Fe, Mn, Al, Cu and Zn) in the water of the contaminated Smolník creek is described in this work. Polynomial curves were used to identify trends in pH and metal concentration in the surface water. The analysis showed that the second-degree polynomial functions as a candidate for explaining metals’ concentration based on the measured surface water’s pH with a goodness of model fit, based on a coefficient of determination ranging from 0.4 to 0.7 depending on the determined metal concentration and location.

Keywords

• heavy metals
• acid mine drainage
• pH
• polynomial curve