|
Hydrogeochemical Engineering Research Outreach (HERO) Department of Civil Engineering, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK c.a.nuttall{at}ncl.ac.uk
To provide the basis for the design of two Coal Authority mine water management schemes, IMC Consulting Engineers (IMC) carried out step-drawdown pumping tests at the Deerplay (Lancashire) and Frances (Fife) abandoned collieries in the summer of 2000. Supplementary hydrochemical investigations were funded by NERC and undertaken by the University of Newcastle and Queen’s University Belfast (QUB).
The results of the step-drawdown tests can only be interpreted by invoking a substantial component of turbulent flow in large open voids. Overall, the Deerplay system behaves in a manner analogous to natural aquifers, lending itself to modelling (using VSS-NET) to obtain effective hydraulic parameters that may be applicable in similar systems of flooded bord-and-pillar workings elsewhere.
The hydrochemical results for both sites showed some similarities, for example there was evidence of depth stratification of water quality in both cases, but also contrasts. For instance, although the total iron in the mine water pumped from the Deerplay Colliery rose gradually to a plateau at around 30 mg 1–1, the water remained net-alkaline throughout the test. By contrast, not only did the total iron in the Frances waters rise in abrupt steps to as much as 600 mg 1–1, but the water also switched from being net-alkaline at the beginning of the test to become strongly net-acidic by the end.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  P. L. Younger and N. S. Robins Challenges in the characterization and prediction of the hydrogeology and geochemistry of mined ground Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2002; 198: 1 - 16. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
