Source water is water from natural resources that is treated to produce drinking water for a community. Unanticipated changes in quality or the presence of unusual contaminants in source water can adversely impact the ability of a utility to meet these objectives. Boreholes, aquifers, rivers, dams, and streams are the major examples of source water. The importance of applying Blue Waters is as follows:
Provide information to facilitate protection of the public water supply for all intended uses.
Investigate and identify pollution sources and potentially responsible parties
Observe long-term trends in source water quality to prepare for future challenges or regulations.
Detect and respond to contamination incidents
Optimize treatment processes to improve finished water quality and reduce costs
Develop information that supports regulatory compliance
Effluent monitoring is done per treatment phase to ensure efficient treatment and ensure the efficacy of treatment processes in removing contaminants. Wastewater discharge is monitored for specific effluent quality parameters to ensure that the concentrations are within allowable limits. The monitoring results are used as basis for regulatory and control actions, e.g., issuance of discharge permits, issuance of notice of violation (NOV), conduct of technical conference, cease, and desist order (CDO), or imposition of fines and penalties or computation of wastewater charges.
Overall effluent monitoring is also used to:
Evaluate the effectiveness of effluent treatment and control.
Identify potential environmental problems and evaluate the need for remedial actions or mitigating measures.
Determine the effectiveness of the waste minimization/cleaner technologies adopted by the facility.
One of the major impacts of mining processes is the contamination of water bodies through mine water drainage, leakage of water exposed to minerals, water from soil heaps, acid mine drainage and mine water rebound. Water is the most important element of eco-system, and it is thus imperative to determine and mitigate the effects of mining operation on the environment. Significant growth in metal and power industry and the rapid increase in demand of raw material have enhanced extent of the mining industry like never before. Both coal mining and metal mining have seen a huge transformation during the past decades. No wonder it has led to growth in economy and development of many localities and the country in general but the toll it has taken on the environment and ecology cannot and should not be ignored. The impact of mining activity on natural water bodies is wide and extensive. It has become a recent challenge for the industry, government, and the environmentalist to prevent the water pollution due to various mining activity which may be direct or indirect cause for such pollution.