Most serious environmental issue associated with deposition of tailing in tailing

dumps is the discharge of contaminated waters in to surface and groundwater

flows. This problem is more evident for groundwater flows.Apart from all measures
to control and improve the quality (several days of purification by water settlement)
of water that is pumped from tailing dumps in some periods, it is possible
contaminated water to be discharge into the nearest watercourses. As a result of
the discharge of contaminated water, deposition of harmful substances in the
riverbeds can occur, which process causes contamination of the surrounding soil. To
achieve a high level of environmental protection from waste water from tailing
dumps, it is necessary to undergo special treatment for water purification.
Where possible, water is recycled on site. The most obvious example of this is the
decant water from the tailings pond, which is recycled through the processing plant.
Underdrainage water can also be used for this purpose.
Water treatment Plant

Primary Treatment
To prevent damage to pumps and clogging of pipes, raw wastewater passes through
mechanically raked bar screens to remove large debris, such as rags, plastics, sticks,
and cans. Smaller inorganic material, such as sand and gravel, is removed by a grit
removal system. The ligher organic solids remain suspended in the water and flow
into large tanks, called primary clarifiers. Here, the heavier organic solids settle by
gravity. These settled solids, called primary sludge, are removed along with floating
scum and grease and pumped to anaerobic digesters for further treatment.

Secondary Treatment
The primary effluent is then transferred to the biological or secondary stage. Here, the
wastewater is mixed with a controlled population of bacteria and an ample supply of
oxygen. The microorganisms digest the fine suspended and soluble organic materials,
thereby removing them from the wastewater. The effluent is then transferred to
secondary clarifiers, where the biological solids or sludges are settled by gravity. As
with the primary clarifier, these sludges are pumped to anaerobic digesters, and the
clear secondary effluent may flow directly to the receiving environment or to a
disinfection facity prior to release. There are several variations of secondary
treatment, including:

 activated sludge
trickling filtration
rotating biological contactors (RBC)
lagoons and ponds

Tertiary Treatment
Tertiary, or advanced, wastewater treatment is the term applied to additonal treatment
that is needed to remove suspended and dissolved substances remaining after
conventional secondary treatment. This may be accomplished using a variety of
physical, chemical, or biological treatment processes to remove the targeted
pollutants. Advanced treatment may be used to remove such things as color, metals,
organic chemicals, and nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen.

Before the final effluent is released into the receiving waters, it may be disinfected to
reduce the disease-causing microorganisms that remain in it. The most common
processes use chlorine gas or a chlorine-based disinfectant such as sodium
hypochlorite. To avoid excess chlorine escaping to the environment, the effluent may
be dechlorinated prior to discharge. Other disinfection options include untraviolet
light and ozone.

Coagulation:
The decant water is added with coagulants which covers the surface area of the
ions which are repailng each other before.Thus by creating larger size pareticles
which setteles down by gravity.Floculation is carried out in addition with coagulation

for more reaction of the particles with the coagulating agents. Basically mechanical
stiring is done.

Filtration
Filtration is the most relied water treatment process to remove the particles which
are still present in decant water. The coagulation and settling processes have
become so effective that some times filtration may not be necessary. However,
where filtration has been avoided, severe losses in water main carrying capacity
have occurred as the result of slime formation in the mains.
The filters which are used are of the types of Sand ,coal type.There is the layers of
sands present through which water is allowed to pass.Generally the small size sands
have better effect on this. There are several types of filters available ,which are
classified on the basis of (a) filtration rate, (b) driving force (c) direction of flow.
Backwashing of Filters
As the amount of solids retained in a filter increases, bed porosity decreases. At the
same time, head loss through the bed and shear on captured floc increases. Before
the head loss builds to an unacceptable level or filter breakthrough begins,
backwashing is required to clean the bed.

Disinfection
Before the final effluent is released into the receiving waters, it may be disinfected to
reduce the disease-causing microorganisms that remain in it. For this several
disinfectants are used. They went inside the cell of the bacteria and aaffects the
process inside its body.Thus by killing the bacterias.There are several techniques used
for this such as chlorination and ozonization..
Chlorination: Chlorine is the chemical predominantly used in the disinfection of

The most common processes use chlorine gas or a chlorinebased disinfectant such as sodium hypochlorite. To avoid excess chlorine escaping to
the environment, the effluent may be dechlorinated prior to discharge. Currently,
potable water supplies.

chlorine is used as a primary disinfectant in potable water treatment.

Ozonation:

Ozone is an unstable gas; therefore, it has to be generated on site. In addition,

because an adequate residual in water can be maintained for only a short period of
time. Because of its high oxidation potential, ozone requires certain contact time
between the dissolved ozone and water. As a micro flocculation aid, ozone is added
during or before rapid mix followed by coagulation.
Ozone has been used extensively in Europe for disinfection and for taste and odor
control in water supplies. Interest in the United States and Canada has increased in
recent years because of a growing concern about Trihalomethane (THM) formation
during chlorination of drinking water. In
addition to its use as a disinfectant, pre ozonation is also used for (a) removal of
taste and odor, (b) removal of colour, (c) removal of iron and manganese, (d)
enhanced removal of organic matters and (e) oxidation and volatilization of
organics.

An ash pond is an engineered structure for the disposal of bottom ash and fly ash. The wet disposal of
ash into ash ponds is the most common ash disposal method,but other methods include dry disposal
in landfills. Dry-handled ash is often recycled into useful building materials. Wet disposal has been
preferred due to economic reasons, but increasing environmental concerns regarding leachate from
ponds has decreased the popularity of wet disposal.[1] The wet method consists of constructing a large
"pond" and filling it with fly ash slurry, allowing the water to drain and evaporate from the fly ash over time.
[2]
Ash ponds are generally formed using a ring embankment to enclose the disposal site. The
embankments are designed using similar design parameters as embankment dams, including zoned
construction with clay cores. The design process is primarily focused on handling seepage and ensuring
slope stability.
Problems associated with ash pond
Leachate from fly ash can contain heavy metals in excess.
The flow of water through the fly ash and into ground water is controlled by using low-permeability clay
layers and cutoff trenches/walls. Low-permeability clays have permeability on the order of 107 cm/s.
Vertical flows through the foundation are controlled by siting fly ash ponds on areas of thick clay or rock
layers that provide suitably low permeability through the base of the pond. Areas with high sub-surface
permeability can be improved by importing suitable clay.
Horizontal flows through the embankment are controlled using clay zones within the embankment. Cut off
trenches and cut off walls are used to connect the embankment clay zones and the foundation clay
layers. Cut off trenches are trenches that are dug into the selected low-permeability sub-surface layer and
backfilled with clay to key the embankment clay zone into the sub-surface. Cut off trenches are generally

used when the low permeability foundation layer(s) are near surface. Cut off walls are similar to cut off
trenches, but are generally much deeper and narrower, and use either slurry or grout instead of clay.