WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH GRANT PROPOSAL
Project ID: 2003WV16B
Title: WRI54: Passive Treatment of Cl Contaminated Waters in NW West Virginia Using Passive Absorptive Technologies
Project Type: Research
Focus Categories: Water Quality
Keywords: aquatic ecosystem integrity, chloride absorption
Start Date: 03/01/2003
End Date: 02/28/2004
Federal Funds: $12384.00
Matching Funds: $24769.00
Congressional District: WV 1st
Principal Investigators: Guetzloff, Thomas; Ziemkiewicz, Paul F (WV Water Research Institute)
Abstract: In West Virginia
there currently exists no state specific surface water quality limit for chloride.
The limit currently on record for chloride, 230 mg/L, comes from federal water
quality standards and are currently not heavity regulated within the state.
However, the WV Division of Environmental Protection has recently been discussing
monitoring chloride concentrations in discharge waters and enforcing existing
chloride limits. Chloride concentrations have been detected at greater than
1000 mg/L (over 5 times the current standard) in several underground mine
discharges in northern West Virignia. This will require many operators in
this region to continually treat for chloride removal. Unfortunately, passive
treatment technologies do not exist to address chloride removal from contaminated
waters. The only alternative for operators is to construct and maintain expensive
active treatment facilities to remove chloride. In addition, since chloride
limits have not been enforced in the past, there has been little research
on passive treatment of chloride contasminated waters. The result is that
little is known about the potential for and effectiveness of passive chloride
treatment systems.
The objective of this project is to have a better understanding of the absorptiv
potential of various materials, including acidified acid mine drainage (AMD)
sludge, on anionic species present in AMD. Of particular interest is chloride
and its affinity for sorption sites. Also of interst is sulfate. The results
of this project can then be used to make recommendations for Cl removal in
the field.
Progress/Completion Report PDF