3.water Pollution Control Challenges in Myanmar - 2

Water Pollution Control
Challenges in Myanmar
Soe Myint [B.E.(Mining), D.A.C, M.B.A (AIT), DBL) OSH Professional]

Joint General Secretary, Myanmar Engineering Society
Brief
 Myanmar is encouraging Investments for Industrial and other sectors
by inviting Domestic & International Investors.
 Considerable Challenges on Environment due to increasing

investments.
 Water is essential to life on our planet. It is a must for ensuring

uncontaminated stream, rivers, and lakes as a prerequisite of
sustainable development.
 Water Pollution is one of the concerns for Development as well as

Environmental Conservation & Management.
Types of Water Pollution
 Heavy Metals from Industrial Process can accumulate in nearby lakes and rivers.
 Industrial Waste often contains many toxic compounds that damage the health
of aquatic animals and those who eat them.
 Microbial pollutants from sewage often results in infectious diseases that infect
aquatic life and terrestrial life thorough drinking water.
 Organic matter and nutrients causes an increase in aerobic algae and depletes
oxygen from the water column.
 Sulfate particles from acid rain change the pH of water making it more acidic,
this damages the health of marine life in the rivers and lakes it contaminates ,
and often increase the number of mortalities within an environment
 Suspended particles can often reduce the amount of sunlight penetrating the
water, disrupting the growth of photosynthetic plants & micro-organisms.
Effects of Water Pollution
 Water Pollution is very harmful to humans, animals and water life.
 Effects can be Catastropic, depending on the kind of chemicals,
concentrations of the pollutants, and where there are polluted.
 Death of aquatic animals
 Disruption of food-chains
 Diseases
 Destruction of ecosystems
Source: copper mine pollution
Major Water Pollution Sources
 Major Water Pollution sources in Myanmar can be identified as :
 Industrial Waster Water & Urban Waste
 Agriculture
 Mining
Pollution by Industrial Waste Water
Pollution by Industrial Waste Water (Cont.)
Pollution by Agriculture
 Consumption of Pesticides have gradually increased year after year
 Biggest issue is residue in crops & in paddies
 Residues in these paddies and crop fields can damage the soil as well as
pollute the water by releasing to the neighboring rivers.
 Pollution can be reduced By Controlling the use of some toxic pesticides

and encourage the utilization of conventional bio ‐ fertilizers as a substitute
for chemical fertilizers
Pollution by Mining
 Mining effects fresh water thorough heavy use of water in processing ore,
and thorough Water pollution from discharged mine effluent and seepage
from tailings and waste Rock impoundments.
 While there have been improvements to mining practices in recent years,

significant environmental risks still remain.
Types of Water Pollution from Mining

 Acid Mine Drainage
 Heavy Metal Contamination & Leaching
 Processing Chemical Pollution
 Erosion and Sedimentation
Acid Mine Drainage , AMD
 Acid Mine Drainage is a natural process whereby Sulphuric Acid is produced when
Sulphides in rocks are exposed to air and water.
 When large quantities of rock containing sulphide minerals are excavated from an
open pit or opened up in an underground mine, it reacts with water and oxygen to
create sulphuric acid.
 Acid will leach from the rock as long as its source rock is expose to air and water and
until the sulphides are leached out- the process that can last several years.
 Acidic tailings containment ponds may also leach into surrounding land.
 Acid is carried off the minesite by rainwater or surface drainage and deposited into
nearby streams, rivers, lakes and ground water. It is a potentially severe pollution
hazard.
 AMD severely degrades water quality , and can kill aquatic life and make water
virtually unusable.
Acid Mine Drainage
 AMD is a watershed issue of importance to the full range of public
stakeholders. To begin to address the very real problems posed by AMD,
the concerned authority must :
 Prevent future loss of aquatic habitat to AMD
 Inventory and cleanup existing acid generating mine sites
 Improve public access to information on monitoring and enforcement
of AMD treatment and reclamation and
 Prevent future AMD by improving environmental risk assessment and
adopting a liability prevention approach to future AMD mine
assessments.
Acid Mine Drainage >> Prevention is the key.
Heavy Metal Contamination & Leaching
 Heavy metal pollution is caused when such metals as arsenic, cobolt,

copper, cadmium, lead, silver and zinc contained in excavated rock or
exposed in an underground mine come in contact with water.
 Metals are leached out and carried downstream as water washes over the
rock surface.
 Although metals can become mobile in neutral pH conditions, leaching is
particularly accelerated in the low pH conditions such as are created by
Acid Mine Drainage.
Processing Chemical Pollution
 This kind of pollution occurs when chemical agents (such as cyanide,

mercury or sulphuric acid used by mining companies to separate the target
mineral from the ore).
 Chemicals spill, leak, or leach from the mine site into nearby water bodies.
These Chemicals can be highly toxic to humans and wildlife.
Erosion and Sedimentation
 Mineral development disturbs soil and rock in the course of construction

and maintaining roads, openpits, and waste impoundments.
 In the absence of adequate prevention and control strategies, erosion of
the exposed earth may carry substantial amounts of sediment into streams,
rivers, and lakes.
 Excessive sediment can clog riverbeds and smother watershed vegetation,
wildlife habitat and aquatic organisms.
Mine Operation Sites & Pollution Photos
Passive Waste Water Treatment (Flow Chart)
Waste Water from Mine
Drain ( Constructed with Limestone)
Oxidation (Stair Shape, Water Fall)
Detention /Settling Pond
Filters (With Sand, Crushed Lime Stone, Coal)
Drain out and flowing thru Wet Lands ( with Plants)
Water Good enough to flow to the streams

Source: Htun Linn San
Passive Water Treatment (Pros & Cons)
 Pros
 Low Investment cost
 Low operating cost
 Low requirement of Processing equipment
 No use of harmful substances
 Cons
 Frequent needs of measuring the waste water quality
 Low possibility of changing the quality of waste water
 Need More Space of Land
Policies and Guidelines for Ensuring
Sustainable Environment
 National Environmental Policy (1994)
 Myanmar Agenda 21 (1997)
 National Sustainable Development Strategy (2009)
 Environmental Conservation Law (2012)
 Environmental Conservation Rules (2014)
 Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure (2015)
 National Environmental Quality (Emission) Guidelines) (2015)
 Mining Law (1994)

Actions Require
 Good Governance plays an important role in Water Management, for this
 Participation of stakeholders
 Concerned Authorities, Companies, Public & CSOs
 Collaboration between ministries .
 Enforcement on following guidelines / EMPs and Monitoring on Physical

operations
 Providing Necessary Test Equipment and Laboratories
 Capacity building at both government & private sectors

Thank You for your kind attention

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Water Pollution Control

Soe Myint [B.E.(Mining), D.A.C, M.B.A (AIT), DBL) OSH Professional]

 Considerable Challenges on Environment due to increasing

 Water is essential to life on our planet. It is a must for ensuring

 Water Pollution is one of the concerns for Development as well as

 Effects can be Catastropic, depending on the kind of chemicals,

concentrations of the pollutants, and where there are polluted.

 Death of aquatic animals

 Major Water Pollution sources in Myanmar can be identified as :

 Industrial Waster Water & Urban Waste

 Consumption of Pesticides have gradually increased year after year

 Biggest issue is residue in crops & in paddies

 Pollution can be reduced By Controlling the use of some toxic pesticides

 While there have been improvements to mining practices in recent years,

Types of Water Pollution from Mining

 Heavy metal pollution is caused when such metals as arsenic, cobolt,

 This kind of pollution occurs when chemical agents (such as cyanide,

 Mineral development disturbs soil and rock in the course of construction

Drain ( Constructed with Limestone)

Oxidation (Stair Shape, Water Fall)

Detention /Settling Pond

Filters (With Sand, Crushed Lime Stone, Coal)

Drain out and flowing thru Wet Lands ( with Plants)

Water Good enough to flow to the streams

 Myanmar Agenda 21 (1997)

 National Sustainable Development Strategy (2009)

 Environmental Conservation Law (2012)

 Environmental Conservation Rules (2014)

 Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure (2015)

 National Environmental Quality (Emission) Guidelines) (2015)

 Mining Law (1994)

 Concerned Authorities, Companies, Public & CSOs

 Collaboration between ministries .

 Enforcement on following guidelines / EMPs and Monitoring on Physical

 Providing Necessary Test Equipment and Laboratories

 Capacity building at both government & private sectors

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