Biological manganese removal from acid mine drainage in constructed wetlands and prototype bioreactors

Mine drainage waters vary considerably in the range and concentration of heavy metals they contain. Besides iron, manganese is frequently present at elevated concentrations in waters draining both coal and metal mines. Passive treatment systems (aerobic wetlands and compost bioreactors) are designed to remove iron by biologically induced oxidation/precipitation. Manganese, however, is problematic as it does not readily form sulfidic minerals and requires elevated pH (>8) for abiotic oxidation of Mn (II) to insoluble Mn (IV). As a result, manganese removal in passive remediation systems is often less effective than removal of iron. This was found to be the case at the pilot passive treatment plant (PPTP) constructed to treat water draining the former Wheal Jane tin mine in Cornwall, UK, where effective removal of manganese occurred only in one of the three rock filter components of the composite systems over a 1-year period of monitoring. Water in the two rock filter systems where manganese removal was relatively poor was generally