The Bullhouse Project, South Yorkshire

The Bullhouse Minewater Project has restored the quality of 6 km of the River Don in Yorkshire, which was severely downgraded by the discharge of minewater from the abandoned Bullhouse Mine drainage adit. The minewater contains up to 70 mg/l total iron at near neutral pH. The discoloration caused by the iron detracted from the amenity of the river and contrasted with the flourishing trout fishery immediately above the adit discharge. The total value of the project was £1.3m.

The gravity discharge from the adit is collected in an underground storage tank that acts as a flow-balancing sump. Pumps then discharge the minewater from the tank, through overland pipelines 850 metres, in length for treatment in the Bullhouse Quarry. Aeration is effected in a cascade and sedimentation of the minewater takes place in a large earth lagoon constructed in the quarry as part of the restoration of the site. The treated minewater is returned to the river at the drainage adit by a second pumping installation.

The design, construction and commissioning were integrated with a two-year research project to optimise operation and improve generic understanding of minewater treatment.

Ref: The Bullhouse Minewater Project - D M Laine & A W L Dudeney, IMM Conference, Newcastle, May 2000