Treatment Process
Sequence of Events
- Nutrients (sugars, fats, alcohols, phosphates) added
to lake
- Indigenous microbes metabolize the nutrients and respire
on dissolved materials in the pit lake in the following order:
- Dissolved oxygen
- Nitrates
- Selenates
- Dissolved uranium
- Dissolved metals exit the system via precipitation increasing
metals concentrations in lake bottom sediments
- Phosphate addition encourages the growth of algae which
provides a continuous source of organic carbon to maintain the lake
