A Survey of Ferruginous Minewater Impacts in the Welsh Coalfields

The aim of this study was to locate all ferruginous discharges within the Welsh coalfield areas and to assess their impact upon receiving watercourses. The project was undertaken in two stages. In the first stage, visual assessments were carried out on an area of river bed affected by iron hydroxide deposition. Chemical samples of the discharges and the receiving watercourse were analysed for a suite of physico-chemical determinands. Ninety discharges were located impacting upon 59.4 km of river, and an area of 22 ha was affected by iron hydroxide deposits. A ranking method, incorporating the physical/chemical determinands, was developed to assess the comparative impact which discharges were having on receiving watercourses. A total of 33 of the top ranked discharges (20 to classified watercourses and 13 to unclassified watercourses) having the highest environmental impact were selected; chemical, biological and fisheries impact assessments were then carried out on these discharges in the second stage of the project. The sites were then ranked on the basis of biological and fisheries impact. A list of the highest impacted sites was produced, and some of these were further investigated for remediation options and associated costs.