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Introduction
A
Closer Look: The Elk Valley
Taking
Care of the Environment: Greenhills
Air
Quality Control
Water
Quality and Drainage Control
Testing
Water Quality
Reclamation
of Post-Mining Areas
Why
Do Research?
Conclusion
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Water Quality
and Drainage Control
Looking
after runoff water:
What can we do to control too much water run-off?
- The first
thing that we are going to do is make punchouts along the
mining roads. A punchout is a ditch that drains water off the
side of the road and allows it to flow into a rock drain. Punchouts stop the water before it turns
into a fast-flowing stream that may cause erosion problems.
- The next
step is to build a drain made of rocks. As the water flows
through the drain the rocks slow it down and stop some of the
sediment and mud in the water from getting by. This allows
cleaner water to flow into a diversion ditch that will carry
it to a sediment pond.
Sediment
Ponds4
Sediment ponds are very important for collecting sediment. There
are two ponds. The first one is small and shallow, which
makes it easy to clean out. It traps larger sediment like rocks
and heavier particles.
After the water
flows through the first pond it overflows into the second pond.
The second pond is much larger and very deep. This slows the water
down and allows the smaller particles that stay suspended for
a longer period of time so that they settle to the bottom. The clean water
then flows out of the pond and back into the natural streams.
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