Assessment of the Implications of Coal Post-mining Impact on Surface Water at Abandoned Okpara mine in Enugu State

Abstract

This study examines the coal post-mining impact on surface water at abandoned Okpara mine in Enugu State. Experimental research design was adopted to test the water quality. The water samples were collected and analysed to determine the level of pollution. Hhypotheses were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the treatment means were separated using Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT). The result of the test of hypothesis one shows that there is no significant difference in the parameters of the water samples within months. For all the parameters, α-significant at P≤0.05 fall within .207 and .995. DMRT shows that with the exception of temperature, that there is significant difference in other parameters of the water samples collected at different stations. For the parameters, alpha (α) is significant at P≤0.05. The result also shows that with the exception of Lead (Pb), that there is significant difference (p≤0.05) in the heavy metals found in the water samples collected at different stations. The total viable count (TVC) of the bacteria Pseudomonas aurogenosa and Bacillus substilis were 9.0×10³cfu/ml and 1.2×10⁴cfu/ml for the month of July, while in the month of August it was 9.0×10³cfu/ml and 1.3×10⁴cfu/ml respectively. The study concludes that the abandoned coal mine sites contribute to the type of microorganisms found in the water and concentration of heavy metals present in the water samples as well as other physicochemical parameters/indicators of water quality.

Keywords: Coal post-mining, Water quality, Microbial load, Pollution, Trace metals

DOI: 10.7176/JEES/11-4-08

Publication date: April 30^th 2021