Assessment of Water Contamination by Metallic Trace Elements at Mining Sites: The Case of the Ouham River in the Central African Republic

Eric FOTO^1, , Oscar ALLAHDIN¹, Olga BITEMAN¹, Nicole POUMAYE¹ and Seraphin PINIKO¹

¹Bangui University, Faculty of Sciences, Hydrosciences Lavoisier Laboratory, BP: 908. Bangui, Central African Republic

Cite this paper:
Eric FOTO, Oscar ALLAHDIN, Olga BITEMAN, Nicole POUMAYE and Seraphin PINIKO. Assessment of Water Contamination by Metallic Trace Elements at Mining Sites: The Case of the Ouham River in the Central African Republic. American Journal of Environmental Protection. 2022; 10(2):47-56. doi: 10.12691/env-10-2-1

Abstract

In a context of sustainable management of natural and environmental resources, the preservation of water quality from the adverse effects of anthropogenic activities is of particular interest. Human activities that generate large amounts of waste containing toxic metals are found in the environment as a result of rainfall, atmospheric deposition, etc. Although naturally present at low concentrations in the earth’s crust, these toxic trace metal elements accumulate in surface waters, sediments and soils and reach high concentrations, threatening aquatic life and human health. The aim of this work is to identify these elements in the vicinity of the mining zone in the Bozoum region of the Central African Republic in order to propose a depollution process using activated bricks as adsorbent support. The parameters measured at the four mine sites were as follows: the suspended solids were in the range of 276 to 504 mg/l, the water turbidity was in the range of 375 to 630 NTU, iron was present at concentrations in the range of 4.21 to 8.97 mg/l, and the abnormally high mercury was in the range of 4 to 26 µg/l, 26 times above the standard. The order of the degree of contamination of the water is thus established Hg > Fe > As > Zn > Cu > Pb=Cd=Mn. The activated brick filtration depollution process shows a good mercury retension capacity with a rate of abatement of 95.83% compared to sand with a rate of 12.5%.

Keywords:
activated brick mercury adsorbent trace elements Bozoum

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