Mine Water Treatment with a Pilot Scale RAPS-System
In 1985, economic reasons caused the closure of the fluorspar mine “Hohe Warte” near Gernrode in the German Harz Mountains. Though remediation works were conducted in the preceding years, mine water is currently flowing out freely of the dewatering adit and is impacting the environment and the receiving brook. The mine water is characterised by low pH-values, high conductivities and contains considerable amounts of iron, manganese, and arsenic. Annually, the mine discharges 0.7 Mio m of mine water with 7.8 tons of iron, 3.8 tons of manganese and 13 kg of arsenic. Therefore, the discharging mine water has a great potential to affect the quality of the receiving streams and resulted in a decrease of biological diversity. Based on hydrogeological and hydrochemical investigations, a passive treatment system would be able to treat the mine water. In February 2003 a pilot system was installed near the dewatering adit consisting of a settlement pond, a RAPS system and a constructed wetland. It could be shown that this passive system was able to treat an aliquot of the mine water down to ecologically acceptable standards.
Contemporary Reviews of Mine Water Studies in Europe
Europe was once the most important mining region in the world and nearly every European country has remnants of historic and even pre-historic mining sites. Though the importance of mining activities in most European countries declines, the abandoned sites are still there and can cause environmental dangers as well as technological challenges. On the basis of selected European countries and case studies, these dangers and challenges are described and potential solutions are illustrated.
Groundwater Rebound in the Leicestershire Coalfield
The Leicestershire coalfield has been mined for at least eight hundred years, the last deep mine closing in 1991. The earliest shallow mines on the exposed coalfield are not recorded on plan, but were later connected to the deeper workings in many seams. In order to protect the last deep mines, pumping was maintained from the abandoned mines to the north. 
 
 
 
Water-table rebound was observed prior to closure, and is now affecting the surface. Increased emissions of poor-quality water into low-discharge surface water-courses are predicted. Renewed subsidence has implications for roads, services and property. Rising water levels will affect old opencast excavations and waste disposal sites. 
 
 
 
Fieldwork and abandoned mine plan inspections have demonstrated renewed subsidence and evidence of increased emissions in those low-lying areas of the exposed coalfield which are believed to be most at risk.