Water quality management of mining lakes: a new field of applied hydrobiology

Abstract

Underground and opencast mining generated many new lakes, some with dimensions comparable with natural glacier lakes. Research and water quality management on these lakes is multidisciplinary. A part of them is impaired by geogenic acidification with typical pH values between 2 and 3.5. Approaches are shown how to curb acidification during the mining process, the lake generation, and as a part of the water quality management by new eco-technologies using alkalinity producing microbial processes. An interesting field is the extreme acidic environment and the adaptations of organisms and functioning of the biocenosis.