PROJECTS
World ’ s largest acid mine drainage plant in SA to relieve water crisis
�e Gauteng government is hoping to relieve the province ' s water supply tensions with the opening of a new acid mine drainage ( AMD ) plant in Springs , outside of Johannesburg . Minister of Water and Sanitation , Nomvula Mokonyane has opened the Eastern Basin Acid Mine Drainage Treatment plant , which is the third high-density sludge treatment plant in the Province that will help secure water for the next 30 years . “ By producing fully treated water that will signi cantly increase water supply to the Vaal River System , the opening of the Springs AMD plant will respond to the pollution of freshwater , and stop polluted mine water from reaching a certain level below the surface ‚ which affects the country ' s water sources .” said Mokonyane �e two other operational plants are the Central Basin in Germiston ‚ and the Western Basin in Krugersdorp , which have been operational for a few years . �e pricey but lasting solutions are said to have cost the country an estimated R10 billion to R12 billion , as the province and country intensify their water saving efforts . Mokonyane has said that �e Eastern Basin is the largest of the three plants and the largest of its kind in the world , with the capacity to clean 110 megalitres of a water a day , and send the water back into the Vaal River system . �e polluted water is extracted from the mine void in the region and sent to the three treatment plants . Once the water has been
�e minister of Water and Sanitation , Nomvula Mokonyane , at the launch of the Eastern Acid Mine Drainage Treatment Plant in Springs treated , it is released into nearby water sources ‚ such as wetlands ‚ streams and dams . “ �e problem of acid mine drainage cannot be le� unattended . It has persisted for centuries and we have taken steps to address the challenge ‚” Mokonyane said .
Page26 | Jan - Feb 2016
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