Multivariate statistical analysis applied to assess the dispersion of contaminants in a mining tailings basin in the semiarid region of Bahia – Brazil

This study employed multivariate analysis techniques to identify and evaluate the chemical variables responsible for the contamination of the urban area of Boquira, Bahia, due to the abandonment of the tailings basin of Pb-Zn mining, in order to assist in the environmental management of the area. Factor analysis was performed on main and grouping components. The factor analysis allowed grouping the variables into two main factors for street sediment samples, adding up to 72% of the total accumulated variance, and three factors for house dust samples, which explained 77% of the total variance. The variables have a strong correlation with the composition of the tailings basin. Cluster analysis classified the samples according to the concentration of metals in the area, where the influence of the tailings basin and the natural background of the region's rocks in the contamination distribution can be identified.

An exploratory study of the effects of stormwater pipeline materials on transported stormwater quality

Implications of three sewer pipe materials (concrete, galvanized corrugated steel, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)) for stormwater quality were explored in laboratory experiments, in which three types of stormwater, SW1–SW3, were circulated in 0.5 m long sewer pipe sections. SW1 and SW2 represented synthetic rainwater, without and with fine street sediment added (CTSS = 150 mg/L), respectively, and SW3 was actual stormwater with the same sediment addition as SW2. Following 20-min runs, with an equivalent distance of 500 m travelled by water particles, a number of statistically significant changes in the stormwater chemistry were observed: (i) pH of all the simulated stormwaters increased in the concrete pipe (from 7.0–7.3 to 8.1–9.3), (ii) turbidity decreased in two stormwaters with sediments (SW2 and SW3) in concrete and galvanized corrugated steel pipes (by 50 and 85%, respectively), (iii) the type of stormwater affected the observed copper (Cu) concentrations, with Cudiss concentrations as high as 25.3 μg/L noted in SW3 passing through the PVC pipe, and (iv) zinc (Zn) concentrations sharply increased (Zntot = 759–1,406 μg/L, Zndiss = 670–1,400 μg/L) due to Zn elution from the galvanized steel pipe by all three stormwaters. Such levels exceeded the applicable environmental guidelines.