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IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 5Q~-~caos ~ <br />4.0 WATER TREATMENT OPTIONS '3,g~ -~f"~ <br />As part of the overall development of a water management plan for the West Pit, water treatment <br />altematives were evaluated for possible application in the overall plan. <br />This section of the report includes: (1) a description of water treatment options that were <br />evaluated, (2) a discussion of the approach to selection of the appropriate treatment option, and <br />(3) a discussion of bench and pilot test results. The treatment altematives evaluated can be <br />described in general as either physical/chemical or biological processes. <br />4.1 Treatment Objectives <br />The objective of this investigation was to evaluate above-ground and in-situ water treatment <br />processes for modifying the water quality of the groundwater flowing from the West Pit. There <br />aze primarily three constituents that have been detected in the Rito Seco alluvial aquifer at <br />concentrations exceeding the water quality standazds: (1) total dissolved solids (TDS), (2) <br />sulfate, and (3) manganese. Potential water treatment processes were evaluated with regard to <br />the ability of each system to reduce the concentrations of these three constituents to meet the <br />appropriate water quality standazds. <br />4.2 Applicable Treatment Processes - Physical/Chemical Treatment <br />BMRI identified several passive and active treatment technologies which could, in theory, <br />remove sulfate and manganese from groundwater. Membrane sepazation, enhanced evaporation, <br />and ion exchange were the three specific technologies evaluated in this phase of the water <br />treatment program. <br />4.2.1 Membrane Separation <br />Membrane separation is fundamentally a filtration processes, which is capable of removing <br />suspended and/or dissolved constituents from water, depending on the membrane type and <br />. molecular weight of the constituent. <br />Battle Mounrain Resources, Inc. <br />p.'V001671reporrslmarchrptltr26wvmngtmarch.dot 39 March 21. 1999 <br />