CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF WATER FROM

ASARCO TAILINGS PONDS

1971 and 1981

Constituent

(mg/l)

�Pond No.

1

 

Pond No.

2

 

�Calcium

 

� 530

 

552

615

760

 

�Magnesium

 

� <1

 

5

2

1

 

�Sodium

 

� 190

 

163

166

240

 

�Potassium

 

49

 

70

-

72

 

�Carbonate

 

35

 

0

0

0

 

Bicarb.

 

0

 

39

41

18

 

�Chloride

 

��� 43

 

26

38

32

 

�Sulfate

 

�1,600

 

1,558

1,745

2,400

 

Nitrate .

 

��� 2��

 

2

<:1

2

 

Flouride

 

�2.0

 

3.7

0.6

2.3

 

�Iron

 

�� <0.08

     

0.05

 

�Manganese

 

�� <0.04

 

-

-

0.08

 

�Arsenic

 

�� <0.005

-

-

�� <0.01

 

�Chromium

 

��� <.04

 

-

-

�<0.01

�Selenium

 

�0.013

-

 

�<0.01

�Molybdenum

 

��� 1.9

� � 5.5

�� 16

���� 2.0

 

�Lead

 

-

 

-

-

��� <0.01

 

�Copper

 

-

 

-

-

�� 0.01

 

�Zinc

 

-

 

-

-

�� 0.14

 

�Cadmium

 

-

 

-

-

�<0.01

 

�Boron

 

-

 

�� 0.4

-

��� 0.13

 

�Vanadium

 

-

 

-

-

�<0.1

 

�Electrical Conductivity

           

�(micromhos at 250C)

2,993

 

-

-

� 3,351

 

�Total Dissolved Solids

3,500

 

-

2,629

� 3,333

 

�Total Organic Carbon

7.8

 

-

-

6.7

 

�Field pH

 

-

 

-

-

5.5

 

�Lab pH

 

10.1

 

6.7

5.0

6.5

 

�Date

 

5/4/81

 

2/17/71

10/18/71

8/20/81

 

�Lab

 

U of A

 

ETL

ETL

BC Labs

 

1971 analyses from Engineers Testing Laboratory, Inc. (1973) and 1981 analyses from Thurnblad (1982).

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