Monitoring of waste rock dump surface water drainage and channel infiltration

摘要

A series of low-cost, high-resolution game cameras (flow-imagery) and resistance sensors (inundation sensors) were installed in unlined drainage channels at a reclaimed waste rock dump (WRD) to determine the distribution, duration and estimated infiltration of surface water into the channel areas. Estimated drainage channel infiltration from the flow-imagery and inundation sensor data was 3.6 percent of the estimated WRD seepage collection volume during the same monitoring time period. The flow-imagery and inundation sensor monitoring results provided a clear indication that most of the water entering the WRD seepage collection pond is from a source other than drainage channel infiltration.