IMPACTS OF COAL MINING ON STREAM WATER QUALITY; CASE STUDY OF MCHENGA COAL MINE IN RUMPHI DISTRICT

Water is one of the basic needs of the mining industry. All the operations of mining, directly or indirectly require water for their functioning. The mining industry has been utilizing water carelessly without anticipating the negative impacts it is having on the ecology and the biodiversity of the region (Singh 2008). Acid mine drainage has become a common phenomenon associated with mining. Deaths and diseases caused by contaminated water has roused concerns everywhere (Monjerezi, 2012). The critical situation requires carrying out water analysis of all the water bodies in and around the mines to determine the source, cause, effect and remedies of the different contaminants and pollutants. This is also a part of the corporate social responsibility that the mining industry has pledged to.

The study is aimed at assessing the impacts of coal mining on the quality of stream water at Mchenga coal mine. Stream water resources in northern part of Malawi especially in the Livingstonia coalfield in Rumphi district are not potable for drinking and other uses due to high contamination and pollution. Specific objectives, Geology of the area, Analysis of the physiochemical parameters and Comparing the results with WHO and MBS, helped to achieve the main objective of the study.

The parameters that were determined for this purpose are temperature, pH, conductivity, TDS, DO, turbidity, acidity, sulphates, phosphates, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and other trace metals (Atkins et al 2010). Due to heavy dependence of water as a main source in coal processing by the Mchenga coal mine as resulted into great pollution of streams. Direct discharge of untreated wastes or coal tailings in the streams have acerbated the pollution levels of the streams.

In this study, the main hypothesis was "Mchenga coal mining activities in Rumphi district may have impacted negatively on stream water quality such that they do not exceed permissible water quality standards set by the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) or WHO". The study employed field and laboratory experiments to investigate this hypotheses and provide scientific data on the stream water quality that is used. Comprehensive assessment of the quality of stream water at Mchenga area.

The critical situation requires carrying out water analysis of all the water bodies in and around the mines to determine the source, cause, effect and remedies of the different contaminants and pollutants. Stream water resources in northern part of Malawi especially in the Livingstonia coalfield in Rumphi district are not potable for drinking and other uses due to high contamination and pollution. The parameters that were determined for this purpose are temperature, pH, conductivity, TDS, DO, turbidity, acidity, sulphates, phosphates, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and other trace metals (Atkins et al 2010). In this study, the main hypothesis was "Mchenga coal mining activities in Rumphi district may have impacted negatively on stream water quality such that they do not exceed permissible water quality standards set by the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) or WHO".

The mine is located in the southeast corner of the 90 km2 Livingstonia coalfield in Rumphi district in the Northern region of Malawi (Mshali. 2000). Specifically, the mine is located in Chiguliro village in Traditional Authority Njikula covering an approximate area of 17.5 km square.

Stratigraphically, the area is composed of the Karroo System strata which are preserved in a number of N-S trending basins and down-faulted troughs and they display both unconformable and faulted relationships to the underlying Basement Complex gneisses. Coal is the only mineral of economic interest known to occur in the Karroo System (Permo-Triassic).

The area has been chosen for it bears Mchenga coal mine within itself and is bordered by two major streams. The mine uses water as its main source for coal production which is later discharged into the bordering streams of North Rukulu and Denbo, without any proper water treatment which is then used by the people in the communities along these streams as it flows down into the lake.

But also due to lack of enough data on water quality assessment done by other researchers on the impacts of coal mining on stream water quality, granted a go ahead permission to carry out this research study in order to determine the impacts of coal mining activities on the quality of stream water in the two streams mentioned above. Also to check what health issues can the coal waste have on people's lives as a result of drinking water from these polluted streams.

District: Rumphi

Coordinates: -10.82575, 33.942