Zero Liquid Waste Process Treats Consol Energy Mine Water
Source Veolia Water North America
Veolia Water has successfully commissioned and begun operational management of the Consol Energy Inc. Northern West Virginia Water Treatment Facility near Mannington, W.Va. The zero liquid waste (ZLW) facility designed and built by Veolia will treat 3,500 gal per minute of mine drainage.
By employing a ZLW process, water of low quality is extracted and treated, and clean water is returned to the ecosystem, improving the water balance and condition of the Monongahela River watershed.
Veolia will provide operational management of the facility for the next 10 years, guaranteeing Consol continual performance and optimization of the system. The ZLW treatment concept removes contaminants in the mine water and reduces them to solid salts. The process also uses a number of sustainable practices and technology applications, reducing the carbon and energy footprint of the treatment process.
This environmentally sustainable design and construction approach was developed to help Consol meet discharge standards for chlorides in West Virginia’s waterways. The facility will treat water from Consol’s Blacksville No. 2, Loveridge and Robinson Run mining operations.
“In partnering with Veolia on this first-of-its-kind in scale and scope project, we were able to bring the water treatment plant online on time, under budget, and in full compliance with our permits,” said Katharine Fredriksen, senior vice president environmental strategy and regulatory affairs for Consol. “This demonstrates the success of partnering with a company that shares our commitment to our core values of Safety, Compliance, and Continuous Improvement.”
To quantify the benefits of the water treatment facility to the Monongahela River, Veolia conducted a Water Impact Index (WIIX) evaluation. The WIIX measures not only water volume, but the level of stress upon local water resources, overall water quality and indirect water impacts from chemicals and electricity. Measuring all these factors, the WIIX calculates the new treatment facility will return 1.3 billion gal of high-quality water per year to the Monongahela River basin, validating a positive environmental impact by the water treatment facility.
“The partnership with Consol goes beyond meeting new regulatory requirements,” said Steve Hopper, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Veolia Environnement North America’s Industrial business. “It combines technical know-how with operational expertise to implement a solution which positively impacts the environment while meeting the production needs of CONSOL through guaranteed performance.”
Source: Veolia Water North America