Physicochemical Characterization of Wastewater from the Mining Activity: A Case Study from Boukhadra Mine (Algeria)

This study was carried out to investigate the environmental impact of the industrial mining activities in Boukhadra Mine, Algeria. Samples were collected from a washing station of the mine, where the different pollutants are generated by the washing water and oils and greases of the equipment. According to standard protocols the physicochemical parameters analyses were selected to determine the organic pollution such as chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD5), Kjeldahl Nitrogen, temperature (t), pH, suspended solids (SS) and oils and greases. An analysis of total metal concentrations for Fe, Al, AG, AS, Be, Cd, Cr, Cu, Co, Cn and Ti was also performed. The investigation found that the values of SS = 169 mg/L, COD = 172 mg/L, BOD = 55 mg/L and oils and greases = 343 mg/L and metal concentrations of Fe, AS, Be, CD, Cu, Cn, SN exceeded the maximum contamination limit specified by the Algerian standard industrial waste. This implies significant levels of pollution of these wastewaters, and alert risk of environmental pollution when these waters are directly dumped into nature. The Boukhadra mine team decided to quickly instal API oil–water separator for industrial discharges.