Influence of Coal Ash and Slag Dumping on the Quality of Dump Waste Waters of the Kostolac Power Plants (Serbia)

The content of selected trace and major elements in the river water used for transport, as well as in the subcategories of the waste waters (overflow and drainage) were analyzed in order to establish the influence of transport and dumping of coal ash and slag from the “Kostolac A” and “Kostolac B” power plants located 100 km from Belgrade (Serbia). It was found that during transport of coal ash and slag to the dump, the water used for transport becomes enriched with manganese, nickel, zinc, chromium, vanadium, titanium, cobalt, arsenic, aluminum, and silicon, while more calcium, iron, cadmium, and lead are adsorbed by the ash and slag than is released from them. There is also an equilibrium between the release and adsorption processes of copper and magnesium during transport. The vertical penetration of the water used for transport results in a release of calcium, magnesium, manganese, and cadmium to the environment, while iron, nickel, zinc, chromium, copper, lead, vanadium, titanium, cobalt, and arsenic are adsorbed by the fractions of coal ash and slag in the dump