Impact of Saline Mine Water: Development of a Meromictic Reservoir in Poland

Abstract

The hard coal mines in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin of southern Poland have highly saline waste water. In the past, such water was often discharged into nearby reservoirs, which would completely change the physical–chemical properties of the reservoir water. In some cases, it also caused permanent stratification; meromictic reservoirs were created. This paper describes the properties of the water in one such reservoir, in a mined out rock quarry in Katowice (southern Poland). Three zones characteristic of meromictic water bodies can be distinguished in the reservoir: a surface atmosphere responsive zone (mixolimnion), a transition zone (chemocline), and a bottom unmixed layer (monolimnion). For comparison, baseline conditions for normal reservoir water were assumed to be represented by the nearby Grunfeld reservoir, which also formed in a closed quarry, but was not used for disposal of mine waste water.