The status of the passive treatment systems for acid mine drainage in South Korea

This study was performed to investigate the operating status, evaluate the problems, and discuss possible improvement methods of passive treatment systems for acid mine drainage (AMD) in South Korea. Thirty-five passive treatment systems in 29 mines have been constructed from 1996 to 2002 using successive alkalinity producing systems (SAPS) as the main treatment process. We investigated 29 systems (two for metal mines), 19 of which revealed various problems. Overflows of drainage from SAPS, wetland, or oxidation ponds were caused by the flow rate exceeding the capacities of the facilities or by the reduced permeability of the organic substance layer. Leakages occurred at various parts of the systems. In some cases, clogged and broken pipes at the mouths of the mine adits made the whole system unusable. Some systems showed very low efficiencies without apparent leakage or overflow. Even though the systems showed fairly good efficiencies in metal removal ratios (mainly iron) and pH control; sulfate removal rates were very poor except in three systems, which may indicate very poor sulfate reductions with sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) as a means.