Piping solution combats mine wastewater contamination
To eliminate the risk of mine wastewater contaminating the country’s water systems, mine operators should use corrosive-resistant glass-fibre reinforced plastic (GRP) piping when transferring toxic water, says industrial water cooling tower solutions provider Industrial Water Cooling (IWC).
Mine wastewater, a highly toxic cocktail of organic compounds with high concentrations of sulfate, silica, iron and other toxic metals, and acid mine drainage (AMD), are two major sources of water contamination in South Africa, the company says.
AMD is characterised by low pH, high salinity levels, elevated concentrations of sulphate, iron, aluminium and manganese, high levels of toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, cobalt, copper, molybdenum and zinc, and sometimes deadly radionuclides.
IWC CEO Roger Rusch notes that GRP pipes are inherently resistant to galvanic and electrolytic corrosion making them the only real piping solution for mine wastewater transportation and effective AMD management.
“With low potential for leaks caused by corrosion, GRP pipes significantly reduce the risk of contaminants entering South Africa’s water system.
“The resins used to manufacture GRP pipes provide a natural resistance of 1 pH to 10 pH making them suitable to use in the desalination and reverse osmosis processes of wastewater treatment. “Further, since the hydraulic characteristics of these durable pipes remain constant over time, there is no need for additional linings, coatings or cathode protection,” he states.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation