The Wedding of the Waters

[Subrosa]

An interesting place not far from the new house. The water coming in from the right comes down from a coal mine at the top of the mountain. From this point to at least a mile downstream the stream bed looks like it rusted. However from this point up to where it springs from the ground this is a pristine state designated wild trout stream.

[Dollythehun]

Congrats on your new house! Interesting picture of the diversity!

[Leafmite]

Hard to believe but that is pretty much what happens. :|

[Subrosa]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Congrats on your new house! Interesting picture of the diversity!

Thanks! I was a bit anxious over what would become of my animals and plants, but things worked out pretty well. I'll miss having an indoor space that gets cold but doesn't freeze, but on the bright side I have several times the usable south facing window space.

[Orchid Whisperer]

Originally Posted by Dollythehun

Congrats on your new house! Interesting picture of the diversity!

The stream on the right is a fairly classic example of acid mine drainage impact. Coal seams are often associated with tiny (often microscopic) particles of iron sulfide (minerals pyrite and marcasite). As they weather, the minerals oxidize ("rust"), hence the brown color.

Typically, the streams affected have low pH, lower oxygen (oxygen used up to oxidize the minerals) and substantially reduced abundance and diversity of fish and invertebrates. I have seen similarly impacted streams below mines in Georgia and South Carolina where the streams were basically devoid of fish and invertebrates.

I hope this stream's condition is from historic mining (i.e. mining impacts not increasing, promise of future recovery), rather than active mountain top mining (mining impacts active, may get worse before recovery).

[rbarata]

In the Açores Islands we have a similar situation but, in that case, it's a vulcanologic phenomenon (although, chemically, the process must be the same). The hot waters are rich in iron and it precipitates all over everything, even you clothes. An old swimsuit is advisable because the iron stains don't wash away.
You could try to put in water an old rag for a few days and see what happens...

[Dollythehun]

OW, in Simple terms, please elaborate: This is what our water does if left to run. It also produces "iron slime." However the tap water pH is slightly under 7 (6.8 as I recall) and under 200 tds. Does the bacteria? that causes the slime also effect the environment? Is that noticed in running water such as that stream?

[Orchid Whisperer]

Dolly:

What you are likely seeing in your tap water is slightly different from what is seen in this stream. I grew up in central Indiana. We were on a well, bored into the glacial till that covers most of the northern 2/3 of the state. Our water, untreated, was very hard, no idea what the pH was, but also full of iron.

In water, including groundwater, iron can be reduced (when the oxygen is low) or oxidized (when oxygen is relatively high). The oxygen level that governs which redox state the iron will occur in is low compared to what most aquatic animals will need (often 4 ppm dissolved oxygen or higher). Reduced iron (soluble, relatively low color) in groundwater will convert to oxidized iron (insoluble, red brown) at dissolved oxygen levels of 1 to 2 ppm or higher.

Your water, especially if it comes from a well, probably has reduced (dissolved) iron in it. Aerating it by running it through a treatment system, faucet aerator, etc. increases the dissolved oxygen level. It precipitates iron oxide on your plumbing, yellows the laundry, etc. The iron level causes staining, but is not dangerous to drink.

There is bacteria associated with that red acid mine drainage. Read about Thiobacillus ferrooxidans here: Thiobacillus ferrooxidans Note that it is associated with conversion of reduced to oxidized iron, and the bacteria derives energy from that process.

For more on groundwater iron and redox, see http://www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/HEALTHY...roundwater.pdf

For more general information on redox, see Redox - Wikipedia

[JosephInce51Uhw]

Oh, it's a very beautiful idea.

[DirtyCoconuts]

this is a stunning image of a really cool spot- thanks for taking us there with you

this reminds me of playing in various mountain rivers where a meandering lowland river would be meeting a mountain ice melt / spring stream and the water would be SOOOOO cold lol you could fish the warm or cold side of the water meeting depending on the trout or other fish you were after....so neat