The development of techniques for the evaluation and effective management of surface and groundwater contamination in the Orange Free State Goldfields

Abstract

Water can be regarded as a scarce commodity in South Africa and one cannot rely solely on the discovery of new water resources to meet the ever-increasing demands. As the industrial and mining activities on the Witwatersrand increased from the turn of the century, so did the contamination of the Vaal River. Repetition of this situation in other drainage basins must, as far as possible, be prevented. As the Orange Free State Goldfields occur in an area isolated from many of the pollution sources found within, for example the Vaal River Catchment, its impact on the environment can therefore be investigated more easily and the results obtained can be used to elucidate ground-water quality problems in areas of diverse mining and industrial activities. The area under investigation stretches from Allanridge in the north to just north of Theunissen in the south, covering approximately 2 100 km2. Many of the possible pollution sources have been present in the area since mining commenced in the early fifties, while other sources have only been ongoing for a few years.

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