exspelio
10 years ago
Still think reed beds are the answer to effluent, magical things 🙂 I know an expert.
Always remember, nature is in charge, get it wrong and it is you who suffers!.
Morlock
10 years ago
LeeW kindly identified this place for me as Ynysarwed Lower Colliery treatment plant.

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.701134&lon=-3.726007&z=18.2&r=0&src=msa 

Cannot remember if this was part of it?

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.696702&lon=-3.73132&z=18.2&r=0&src=msa 

LeeW
  • LeeW
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  • Newbie
10 years ago
They are the reed beds part of the scheme at Ynysarwed, on that image inlet to one of the ponds looks a bit clogged. The current system is part active and part passive.

Yes reed beds do remove metals and other things, however for metals like zinc and lead they need a large area - not too many large flat areas near some of these mines, and in remote locations an active plant might not be viable. Therefore a different method is needed.

Out of interest (it's not in Wales) but relate to the topic, here are some photo from the scheme at Force Crag which was built last year.

https://flic.kr/p/7SZAcS 


https://flic.kr/p/n9vgQr 


You could always try asking the EA / NRW / CA 😮
I went in a mine once.... it was dark and scary..... full of weirdos


When do I get my soapbox, I need to rant on about some b***cks
Morlock
10 years ago
The Force Crag scheme blends in well.

Also seems to be a reed bed system at Glyncorrwg.

http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.690977&lon=-3.611705&z=18&r=0&src=msa 
LeeW
  • LeeW
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  • Newbie
10 years ago
Most of the coal mine water treatment schemes have reed beds. There used to be a list of them on the CA website, hopefully it will return soon
I went in a mine once.... it was dark and scary..... full of weirdos


When do I get my soapbox, I need to rant on about some b***cks
Morlock
10 years ago
"LeeW" wrote:

Most of the coal mine water treatment schemes have reed beds. There used to be a list of them on the CA website, hopefully it will return soon



Is this the list?

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/356530/List_of_Sites_-__Operated.csv/preview 
LeeW
  • LeeW
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10 years ago
Yes that's the list of schemes in some random order. It used to be on a map with some details and photos for each one
I went in a mine once.... it was dark and scary..... full of weirdos


When do I get my soapbox, I need to rant on about some b***cks
Graigfawr
10 years ago
Active schemes involve one or more of chemical dosing, filtering, mechanical aeration, etc. Passive schemes typically involve running the effluent through reed beds or other media.

Both active and passive treatment schemes may involve pumping the effluent if the available treatment site lies at a higher altitude than the point of discharge.

Passive schemes (preferably without pumping) are preferred on the grounds of running costs. Passive schemes require a lot of land for lagoons and reed beds, and in many valleys suitable land simply isn't available.

Frongoch was always going to be a relatively cheap and relatively easy hit. Even so, it has been a long time in being implemented - I was involved in low-key preliminary studies and proposals 30 years ago that came to naught as no money was then available for even the modest stream diversion which is the single most important element within the current scheme.

The other major mid Wales polluting sites are mostly much more problematic, both due to types of discharge (e.g. the high iron content of Cwmrheidol) or due to a shortage of flat land (e.g. Cwmystwyth). There seems to be a general feeling in NRW to avoid schemes that will involve tank farms and miniature chemical works as the running costs are to high and the visual impacts are out of place in rural areas. Even pumping is avoided whenever possible. It'll be interesting to see which sites are progressed (Abbey Consols looks likely to be next) and which sites are more or less left alone (maybe Cwmystwyth).

The 1990s 'worst 50' list, mentioned up-thread seems to have been quietly forgotten by NRW as its errors of inclusion and errors of omission have become recognised.

Some sites to watch for potential proposals: Parys Mountain, a number of the Gwydyr mines, Abbey Consols, Cwmrheidol, Cwmystwyth, Nantymwyn. I'm less well-informed on Clwyd and Montgomeryshire sites but would guess at Van.
John Mason
10 years ago
I was always amazed at one big omission.

Glasdir.

If the deep adit there ever "relieved itself", everything in the Mawddach below that point would be dead. Of all the mines in the Dolgellau district this has to be the biggie. Makes the likes of Abbey Consols seem, in the wonderful terminology that Simon Hughes once taught me, like "a fart in a box of sawdust"!
royfellows
10 years ago
"exspelio" wrote:

"royfellows" wrote:

"gNick" wrote:

I have, using yogurt treated with selected high quality mine effluent, woven a rackstop with a built-in beard protector (to avoid embarrassing Santa Moments) and bat-frier. Can I have an EC grant please?

So far :offtopic: it's embarrassing... :surrender:



No chance.
Nowhere at all in your business plan is there a single instance of the statutory buzz word "sustainable". The inclusion of a so called 'bat frier' implies a non eco efficient waste of energy, and whatever lamp you use ensure that the mains cables are black and brown rather than red and black that anyone would understand.
I know that this is probably killing a few people but its the price of progress.

And this 'rackstop' thing, it is designed in millimeters not inches?

Nothing at all about your mine effluent or yogurt meeting EC directives.
No chance



Err, surely Blue and Brown???:lol:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_wiring_in_the_United_Kingdom 
:lol:

Back on topic

The pollution issue at Cwmystwyth is mainly down to the discharge from Pugh's Adit, with Kingside and the action of Nant Trefach in flood conditions on mill fines and a slimes dump south of the road.
Issue with treatment, apart from funding of course, is the fact that there is nowhere downstream for a treatment plant.
Mooching around the site I noticed that Pugh's emerges from under a big boulder about 10 feet or so higher than the ground upstream to the east, where there is quite an area in front of the old compressor house.
The discharge from Pugh's could be piped upstream to that area and combined with the discharge from Kingside.

We have communicated this idea and willingness to cooperate to NRW, if such work was completed rather than worrying about 'visual impact' my vision is to use it as an educational facility with the old compressor house made into a public viewing area with explanation boards etc.

Two birds with one stone!
My avatar is a poor likeness.
John Mason
10 years ago
Some interesting ideas there Roy - Pugh's has ever been an ochre-ridden nightmare. But the worst problems are associated with risings up the Ystwyth Fault. I find it hard to imagine that much can be done about that issue.
royfellows
10 years ago
"John Mason" wrote:

Some interesting ideas there Roy - Pugh's has ever been an ochre-ridden nightmare. But the worst problems are associated with risings up the Ystwyth Fault. I find it hard to imagine that much can be done about that issue.



Well yes John, and it crosses the river lower down
:o
My avatar is a poor likeness.

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