Mining Institute, Perm Federal Research Center, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Perm, Russia:

A. P. Lepikhin, Head of Laboratory, Professor, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, lepihin49@mail.ru
A. V. Bogomolov, Researcher, Candidate of Engineering Sciences

In consequence of large-scale development of the Upper Kama Potash Deposit, the Solikamsk–Berezniki industrial hub has become the first-string source from which mineral substances (first of all, ions of potassium, magnesium and chlorides) enter the Kama River. This situation has come into being for the most part due to discharge of production waste in the form of excess brines to the river network. At present, with the accepted technology of potassium ore extraction and processing, excess brines of the local potash industry make 10 Mm³/yr. Minimization of impact from such great volume of contaminated waste water is one of the ecological challenges in the Perm Krai. Analysis of the calculation results on the potential storage capacity of the Kama River within the Solikamsk–Berezniki industrial hub shows that this water receiver can readily assimilate chlorides (up to 4 Mt/yr), magnesium (to 800 thou t/yr), sulfates (to 1.5 Mt/yr) and calcium (to 3 Mt/yr) even in the exceptionally low-water years. In view of annual irregularity of effluence, the controlled water discharge arrangement capabilities are under consideration. This article examines different ways to solve the problem. The least risk and the highest technical capabilities are provided by the method of hydrologically and hydrochemically controlled waste water discharge in the Kama River (Kama Reservoir). Within the framework of this variant, the assimilation ability of this water body in the water discharge cross-section is calculated, and the hydrodynamic model analysis of the contamination water area beyond the zone of initial dilution of excess brines under different discharge conditions is performed. It is shown that for the efficient initial dilution of very high-density excess brines and for the effective use of the assimilation ability of the Kama River, the discharge outlet should be dispersive. The analysis of process and design solutions on the dispersive discharge outlet shows that for the Kama Reservoir (Kama River) in the area of the Solikamsk–Berezniki industrial hub, the priority variant is the near-bottom waste water discharge.

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