Abstract

SHERIDAN, Craig; HARDING, Kevin; KOLLER, Edward  and  DE PRETTO, Antonio. A comparison of charcoal- and slag-based constructed wetlands for acid mine drainage remediation. Water SA [online]. 2013, vol.39, n.3, pp.369-374. ISSN 1816-7950.

Subsurface-flow constructed wetlands (CW) with charcoal- or slag-based bed matrices were investigated for their potential use in remediating acid mine drainage (AMD). A CW is effectively a reactor in which some components of the wastewater are broken down by the organisms occurring within the CW, whilst others may be degraded by physico-chemical processes or a combination thereof. Two 200 ℓ small-scale CWs were built at the University. Commercially available charcoal and <19 mm basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slag were used as the bed matrices and the units were planted with a variety of plants. The units were exposed to an artificial AMD. The results showed that the systems removed almost all soluble iron and more than 75% of the sulphate. Both CWs were able to increase the pH of the AMD

Keywords : AMD; charcoal; slag; constructed wetlands; remediation.

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