Development and Optimization of an Eco-Engineered Bioreactor System to Treat Mining Influenced Waters

贵金属矿山关闭后，矿业公司负责矿区的长期环境管理，包括污染水的处理。大多数加拿大矿山使用传统的污水处理厂来处理受污染的水。这些处理厂运行成本高昂，能源密集，而且在环境上不可持续。本研究的主要目标是完成一种自然、长期、低能耗的废水处理方法的详细设计，该方法专门用于处理安大略省某特定前金矿遗址的污染水，然后对更大规模的系统进行评估和优化。一旦弗莱明学院水和废水技术发展中心（CAWT）的研究人员完成了所需的具体设计、化学和校准，他们将在矿区安装和建造一个系统。CAWT的研究人员将评估该系统在“真实世界”环境和季节变化中处理矿井污染水的能力。因此，矿业公司将能够在几年内评估该系统，目标是用全面可持续的替代方案取代其昂贵的废水处理厂。这项研究将对生态工程生物反应器领域的新知识作出重大贡献，特别是因为它们用于处理受采矿影响的水。它还将为矿业公司提供可持续的生态技术，他们可以在全球的矿区实施。

After a precious metal mine closes, the mining company is responsible for the site's long-term environmental management, which includes treatment of contaminated waters. Most Canadian mines use a traditional wastewater treatment plant to treat contaminated waters. The treatment plants are costly to run, energy-intensive, and are not environmentally sustainable. The primary objective of this research study is to complete the detailed design of a natural, long-term, low-energy wastewater treatment method tailored to treat a specific former Ontario gold mine site's contaminated waters and then evaluate and optimize a larger-scale system. Once the researchers at Fleming College's Centre for Advancement of Water and Wastewater Technologies (CAWT) complete the specific design, chemistry, and calibrations required, they will install and build a system on the mine site. CAWT researchers will evaluate the system's ability to treat the mine's contaminated waters in a "real world" environment and through seasonal variations. As a result, the mining company will be able to evaluate the system over several years with a goal to replace their costly wastewater treatment plant with a full-scale sustainable alternative. This research will contribute significantly to new knowledge in the field of eco-engineered bioreactors, especially as they are used to treat mining influenced waters. It will also provide the mining company with a sustainable eco-technology that they can implement at their mine sites globally.