Optimization of mine water discharge with the river hydrograph. Case study Samara River in Western Donbas

Abstract

Abstract The paper deals with modeling salt transport in surface watercourses affected by mine water discharge taking into account the river hydrograph, hydrogeological, and climatic data. The developed model enables optimizing the discharge parameters; thus, minimizing the mineralization of river water throughout the year. As the case study, we considered the section of the Samara River in the Western Donbas where mine water is discharged from three storage ponds located in the ravines of Kosminna, Taranova, and Svidovok. Taking into account the pond capacities, it is proposed to discharge at least 60% of mine water from all ponds in December-April, with more than 88% of the most mineralized waters from the pond in the Svidovok ravine. The increase of the river water mineralization at the exit from the coal mining area does not exceed 0.22 g/dm3 on average per year, with a maximum of 0.36 g/dm3 during the low water season. The model novelty is coupling natural and man-made factors forming the water and salt balance in the surface watercourse throughout the year with the optimization methods. The proposed technique can be used to optimize the mode of mine water discharge.