Conceptual model for minimizing the risk of water pollution in the Kemerovo region

Abstract

One of the problems of functioning of coal industry enterprises is the formation of mine waters, which are discharged into water bodies and cause their dangerous pollution. The total volume of water pumped by the enterprise includes up to 15 % for the recycling cycle, the remaining 85% is discharged to surface water bodies. As a result, the ecological balance of coal regions is disturbed, their sanitary and hygienic state on the environment worsens, and the quality of coal is reduced due to the intake of polluted water for technological operations. The volume of mine water contamination increases during mining operations at deeper horizons and in difficult mining and hydrogeological conditions. In turn, this leads to pollution and depletion of underground aquifers and the formation of environmental risk factors. In Kuzbass, all these factors contribute to the development of water crisis, since the state of surface reservoirs has already reached a critical limit. Especially dangerous is the process of liquidation of mines. Closing mines and sections disrupt natural water flows, resulting in all water from the aquifers going to deeper horizons. More pollutants enter the water, which poison the underground hydrosphere of the regions. The paper analyzes the pollutants entering the underground and surface hydro grid at coal-fired plants and offers a Conceptual model for minimizing the risk of water pollution.