Protection of Groundwater from Migration of Infiltrates from a Chromic Waste Storage Site and Methods of Treating these Infiltrates

This work presents the results ofinvestigations to develop and implement methods toeffectively collect and purify infiltrates from heaps,situated in the region of Alwernia near Cracow, wheremore than 3 million tonnes of waste material resultingfrom the production of chromium compounds have beenstored. It describes a system for the protection ofgroundwater from these infiltrates which contain 50–400 g m^-3 Cr⁶⁺, as well as the effectivenessof cheap and simple chemical methods to purify thesechromic wastewaters. The infiltrate collection systemand the most effective method to decrease theconcentration of Cr⁶⁺ to a level below 0.1 ppm,as required by Polish and European Union regulations,were implemented in the Alwernia Chemical Works S.A.in the years 1998–1999.