Potential Implications of Acid Mine Drainage and Wastewater Cotreatment on Solids Handling: A Review

Abstract

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a persistent and extensive source of water pollution and ecological degradation. Co-treating municipal wastewater (MWW) with AMD using existing infrastructure at conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) may serve as a potential option for AMD abatement. However, commonly elevated iron and aluminum concentrations and low pH of AMD could negatively impact various processes at a WWTP. The focus of this mini-review was to determine how co-treating MWW with AMD could impact the solids handling processes at a WWTP. While no studies have explored the solids that could be generated during co-treatment in a WWTP, there are numerous articles that separately discuss the solids generated during AMD or MWW treatment. Reviewing this literature revealed that iron and aluminum, common metals in AMD, are already present in MWW sludge and typically benefit most solids handling processes. The addition of AMD would elevate iron and aluminum concentration but would likely result in improved sludge dewatering, removal of odor-causing compounds during processing, and a decreased bioavailability of trace metals and water-soluble P in land applications. This review concludes that co-treating MWW with moderate-to-low volumes (< 50%) of AMD within WWTPs will have minimal impact, and likely improve, solids handling processes.

Co-treatment of acid mine drainage and municipal wastewater effluents: Emphasis on the fate and partitioning of chemical contaminants

“…However, as was highlighted in a recent review by Spellman, et al [36], various research studies have dealt with AMD-MWW co-treatment, but so far no study has dealt with the solids can are contained in the product sludge and have been generated during the interaction of AMD and MWW (co-treatment process). Therefore, in this work, apart from identifying the optimal conditions for AMD-MWW co-treatment, focus in also placed in the product sludge and specifically in identifying the fate and partitioning of inorganic contaminants post the cotreatment process.…”

Assessment of Arsenic Contamination in Groundwater and Associated Human Health Risk

“…Overall, the results of this study showed that groundwater from the study area was generally detrimentally affected by elevated levels of both major anions and cations as well as high EC as an indicator of salinity. The total hardness of the groundwater samples (Table 2) was generally >180 mg L −1 indicating significant groundwater hardness [38,39].…”

Sustainable Co-Management of Acid Mine Drainage with Struvite Synthesis Effluent: Pragmatic Synergies in Circular Economy

“…However, the recently introduced concepts of circular economy and ZLD in wastewater management necessitate the introduction of wastewater beneficiation, valorization, and reuse, with the co-treatment of different wastewater matrices being promising in this regard [6,15,16]. Specifically, the co-treatment of MWW with AMD has been found promising due to the P(MWW)-metals (AMD) scavenging mechanism [17]. Not only this, but struvite that has been recovered from MWW has also been used for the treatment of AMD [5].…”