Metal Distribution at River Water of Mining and Nickel Industrial Area in Pomalaa Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

Ilham^1,4, Djoko M. Hartono², Emirhadi Suganda¹ and Muhammad Nurdin³

¹School of Environmental Science, Universitas Indonesia, Jl. Salemba Raya, Jakarta10430 – Indonesia.

²Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Depok 16424 – Indonesia.

³Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences, Universitas Halu Oleo, Kampus Hijau Bumi Tridharma Anduonohu Kendari 93232 – Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.

⁴Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Halu Oleo, Kampus Hijau Bumi Tridharma Anduonohu Kendari 93232 – Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Corresponding Author E-mail: ilham.arst.unhalu@gmail.com

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/ojc/330557

ABSTRACT:

Nickel mining industrial activity in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi Province – Indonesia has provided revenue for government and community. However, this mining has caused impact for an environmental issue. This study aims to analyze river quality in the nickel mining industrial area in Pomalaa. The Total Suspended Solid (TSS) parameter was tested by a gravimetric technique, Fe ions were analyzed by spectrophotometry, and Cr, Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, and Pb were performed by Atomics Absorbance Spectroscopy (AAS) to analyze of. Subsequently, the determination of pH was compared to an Indonesia standard parameter (SNI 06-6989.11-2004). It was performing an evaluation towards the Pollutant Index (PI) value were 0 ≤ PIj ≤ 1.0 (good condition), 1.0 < PIj ≤ 5.0 (lightly polluted), and PIj> 10 (heavily polluted). The result shows that the seven rivers located around Pomalaa nickel mining industrial area are still categorized in a good condition for conducting the mining activity, but Huko-huko river has been categorized lightly polluted because of the impact activity of nickel industrial processing. The quality of Kumoro and Puuroda rivers are still in a good condition for mining activity, processing, and as the second class water quality standard.  However, the water quality of Baula, Huko-huko, Pesouha, Sopura, and Oko-oko rivers are categorized to be lightly polluted at which functions as facilities and infrastructure of water recreation, freshwater fish farming, livestock, and irrigation. Meanwhile, the water quality of the Kumoro and Puuroda rivers are still in a good condition.

KEYWORDS:

Mining; Industry; Nickel; River; Pomalaa

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Copy the following to cite this article: Ilham I, Hartono D. M, Suganda E, Nurdin M. Metal Distribution at River Water of Mining and Nickel Industrial Area in Pomalaa Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Orient J Chem 2017;33(5).

Copy the following to cite this URL: Ilham I, Hartono D. M, Suganda E, Nurdin M. Metal Distribution at River Water of Mining and Nickel Industrial Area in Pomalaa Southeast Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Orient J Chem 2017;33(5). Available from: http://www.orientjchem.org/?p=38812

Where PIj is pollution index for a specified water quality purpose (j), Ci is a measure of water quality parameters, Lij is standard water quality parameter for each parameter at specified water quality purpose (j), (Cij/Lij)M is Cij/leg maximum, (Cij/Lij)R is Cij/Lij average.

Pollution Index of Water Quality Status
0 ≤ Pij ≤ 1.0	Meet quality standards (good)
1.0 < Pij ≤ 5.0	Lightly polluted
5.0 < Pij ≤ 10	Moderately polluted
Pij > 10	Heavily polluted

 

Figure 1:  Location of the research, Baula sub-district, Pomalaa sub-district, and Tanggetada sub-district, Kolaka District, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Click here to View figure

 

Results and Discussion

River water quality measurement was done at mining and nickel industrial area covering to seven rivers in the area of Baula, Pomalaa, and Tanggetada. Those seven rivers are the Baula, Huko-huko, Pesouha, Kumoro, Sopura, Oko-oko, and Puuroda estuary.

Standard of river water quality in mining and nickel industry area according to the Regulation of Minister of Environment No. 9/2006 on discharge standards for business/ore mining nickel activity[i], and Government Regulation No. 82/2001 on water quality management and water pollution control⁶. The result of river water quality measurement in the area of Pomalaa can be seen in Table 2.

Table 2. River Water Quality at Pomalaa Area

No	Parameter	Unit	Result							Quality Standard
			St. 1	St. 2	St. 3	St. 4	St. 5	St. 6	St. 7	Minister Regulation of Environment No. 9/2006		Government Regulation No. 82/2001
										Mining	Processing	The second class water quality standard
1	Total Suspended Solid (TSS)	mg/L	97	190	43	14	67	53	48	200	100	50
2	Degree of Acidity (pH)	–	7.84	7.98	7.99	7.06	7.23	7.11	6.79	6-9	6-9	6-9
3	Iron (Fe)	mg/L	0.16	0.54	0.4	0.15	1.7	0.36	0.22	5	5	0.3
4	Chromium (Cr)	mg/L	0.0026	0.0088	0.0025	0.0038	0.0192	0.0106	0.0029	0.5	0.5
5	(Cr 6+)	mg/L	0.0018	0.0065	0.0021	0.0028	0.0158	0.0117	0.0035	0.1	0.1	0.05
6	Cadmium	mg/L	0.0038	0.0072	0.0022	0.0027	0.0185	0.0105	0.0033	0.05	0.05	0.01
7	Zinc (Zn)	mg/L	0.0144	0.0239	0.0096	0.0048	0.0411	0.0317	0.0133	5	5	0.05
8	Copper (Cu)	mg/L	0.0032	0.0086	0.0014	0.001	0.0067	0.0085	0.0025	2	2	0.02
9	Nickel (Ni)	mg/L	0.0086	0.0296	0.0128	0.0136	0.0368	0.031	0.0012	0.5	0.5
10	Cobalt (Co)	mg/L	0.0042	0.0286	0.0033	0.0038	0.0311	0.0162	0.0064	0.4	0.4	0.2
11	Lead (Pb)	mg/L	0.0005	0.0016	0.0008	0.0018	0.0018	0.0012	0.0008	0.1	0.1	0.03

 

Source: The result of measurement, 2016

Quality Standard

Minister Regulation of Environment No. 9/2006 on discharge standards for business/ore mining activity.

Government Regulation No. 82/2001 on Water Quality Management and Water Pollution Control.

Location of Water Sample Collection

St. 1. the Baula river                          S: 04° 09′ 33,6″  E: 121° 41′ 03,8″

St. 2. the Huko-huko river                S: 04° 10′ 29,0″  E: 121° 38′ 57,8″

St. 3. the Pesouha river                      S: 04° 10′ 38,6″  E: 121° 38′ 34,4″

St. 4. the Kumoro river                      S: 04° 11′ 43,9″  E: 121° 35′ 58,0″

St. 5. the Sopura river                        S: 04° 16′ 01,2″  E: 121° 33′ 51,2″

St. 6. the Oko-oko river                     S: 04° 17′ 41,9″  E: 121° 33′ 35,1″

St. 7. the Puuroda estuary                 S: 04° 08′ 25,1″  E: 121° 37′ 04,8″

The result of water quality measurement at several rivers in the area of Pomalaa mining and nickel industrial is explained as follows:

Parameter that Has Exceeded Quality Standard

Figure 2: Parameter concentration has exceeded quality standardsin the Pomalaa Rivers area Click here to View figure

 

The result of measurement was conducted at 7 rivers in the area of mining and nickel industry at Pomalaa. The TSS parameter of Huko-huko has exceeded the quality standard for nickel processing activity, i.e. 190 mg/L which has exceeded a threshold of the quality standard by 100 mg/L. According to Effendi, TSS has suspended materials with diameter > 1 µm restrained in a Millipore filtration with pore diameter by 0.45 µm[i]. TSS is commonly in the form of mud, fine sand, and any kinds of microorganism that are naturally caused by abrasion and erosion of land that goes into the water body. Casali et al. stated that sediment in the runoff coming from forest land is mostly affected by mining activity at which in the mining activity an amount of sediment in the water becomes increase[ii].  Sediment quality has been used as an important indicator of pollution since it is considered as a major sink for various pollutants. In addition, sediments are normally mixtures of several components and they can play a significant role in remobilization of contaminants in aquatic systems and interactions between water and sediments[iii]. If compared to the second class water quality standard which is suitable for Government Regulation No. 82/2001 on water utilization as facilities/infrastructure of water recreation, freshwater fish farming, livestock, and irrigation through standards of TSS by 50 mg/L, so TSS level in the Baula river (97 mg/L), the Huko-huko river (190 mg/L), the Sopura river (67 mg/L), and the Oko-oko river (53 mg/L) has exceeded quality standard.

Determination of iron parameter (Fe) in the river Huko-huko (0.54 mg/L), the river Pesouha (0.4 mg/L), the Sopura river (1.7 mg/L), and the Oko-oko river (0.36 mg/L) has exceeded the second class water quality standard having been assigned by 0.2 mg/L. However, in general, the level of iron (Fe) in those 7 rivers is still under the class water quality for mining and nickel processing activity. According to Johnson et al. The level of Fe which is more than 1 mg/L will cause skin and eye irritation, and if the solubility of iron in the water exceeds 10 mg/L, it will cause a foul smell in the water[iv]^,[v].

The level of Cadmium content in the Sopura River and the Oko-oko River reaches up to 0.0185 mg/L and 0.0105 mg/L respectively. It shows that it has exceeded the second class water quality standard (Government Regulation No. 82/2001) assigned by 0.01 mg/L, but for mining and nickel processing activity, it is still under water quality standard (Government Regulation of Living Environment No. 9/2006). Cadmium (Cd) is a heavy metal with a very wide deployment in nature. The importance of each source varied by metal; mine waste pile runoff contributed 70% of Cd, while mine drainage contributed 90% of Pb, and both sources contributed similarly to Zn loading[vi]. However, according to Tarigan et al. Cd tends to be poisonous and harms all of the living organism, including human being[vii].  Cd soluble in a 1% ppm can make aquatic biota die.  Hefni et al. explained that Cadmium (Cd) is one of the types of harmful heavy metals for human blood vessels and may accumulate in vitals organs, especially liver and kidney[viii].

Heavy metals that leached out from these disposal points and may contaminate the groundwater, as well as surface water resources nearby area, could affect the health and livelihood of the local population[ix].

Parameter Which Has Not Exceeded Quality Standard

According to the measurement of water quality that has been conducted, it can be seen that 8 other parameters are still under the quality standard of water which is assigned, both discharge standards for business or activity of ore mining and quality standard of water quality management or water pollution control[i].

pH of all rivers located in the area of Pomalaa is still in the range suitable for environment quality standard, that is, in the range of 4-9 [ii].  It is affected by the number of termination of exploration that becomes higher and exploitation performed by companies holding IUP in that area. The pH in the active mining site tends to be very acidic as a result of mineral exposure and leaching through mining processes and excavation. Conversely, the water pH in the abandoned mining ponds shows a near-neutral pH range suggesting the presence of sufficient alkalinity (e.g. bicarbonate) buffer the pH known to be acidic years before the mining operations have ceased[iii].

Cr concentration in the rivers around the area of Pomalaa is still under the quality standard assigned (0.5 mg/L).  The highest Cr concentration found in the Sopura river by 0.0192 mg/L and the lowest is in the Pesouha River by 0.0025 mg/L. Chromium (Cr), a heavy metal found in solid or mineral form and less than the other elements. The natural source of Cr is rock mineral erosion, a flow of water and settles in the sediment through absorption process¹⁵.

Figure 3: Parameter Concentration That Not Exceeded Quality Standard Click here to View figure

 

Even though the concentration of Cr⁶⁺ in the rivers around Pomalaa area is still under a quality standard, but in the Sopura river and the Oko-oko river, it has reached up to 0.0158 mg/L and 0.0117 mg/L respectively. Chromium occurs in water with two predominant states: trivalent Cr³⁺ and hexavalent Cr⁶⁺ where the latter is more soluble than former one[i]. These both states can contaminate the surface water and even groundwater when there is no control to treat the industrial wastewater before contact with water resources. Because of the toxicity of Cr⁶⁺ even in low concentrations (>0.05 mg/L) on the human health, it is important to remove it from the water. There are many developed techniques for removing of Cr⁶⁺ ions from water: among them adsorption[ii]^{,[iii],[iv],[v]}, membranes[vi]^,[vii], electrochemical precipitation[viii]^,[ix], and ion exchange[x]^,[xi].

The parameter of Zinc (Zn) has approached the second class water quality standard by 0.05 mg/L. It happens to the Sopura River and the Oko-oko Riber by 0.0411 mg/L and 0.0317 mg/L respectively. In the high level, Zinc tends to be poisonous, but conversely, it needs by an organism as a co-enzyme in the low level. Although mining operations removed much of the metal ore, the mine waste material remains elevated in labile Zn, Pb, and Cd, especially in fine particle size fractions[xii].

The parameter of copper (Cu) in the Huko-huko river and the Oko-oko river has approached the second class water quality standard which has been assigned by 0.02 mg/L. The level of Cu content in the Huko-huko river and in the Oko-oko river reaches up to 0.0086 mg/L and 0.0085 mg/L respectively. Copper (Cu) is a heavy metal that can be found in aquatic environments as well as in the sediments[xiii].  Cu belongs to the group of essential metals, at which in the low levels it needs of the organism as a coenzyme in the metabolism of the body, the new toxic nature appears in high levels[xiv].

The highest nickel concentration is in the Sopura River by 0.0368 while the lowest is in the Puuroda Estuary by 0.0012 mg/L. That concentration is still under the quality standard of environment for mining and nickel industrial activity by 0.5 mg/L.  Hefni et al. explained that Nickel (Ni) found in the water is in the form of colloids. It is formed by insoluble hydrolyze mineral¹⁵.

Cobalt (Co) concentration in the seven rivers of Pomalaa area is still below the quality standard of an environment, both quality standard of mining and nickel industrial activity and the second class water quality standard (0.2 mg/L). The range of Co concentration in those rivers is about 0.0033 mg/L in the river Pesouha until 0.0311 mg/L in the Sopura river. Cobalt is a naturally occurring element found in rocks, soil, water, plants, and animals. It is an essential micronutrient required for the growth of both plants and animals[xv].  On the other hand, large amounts of cobalt can produce toxicological effects including vasodilation, flushing, and cardiomyopathy in humans and animals[xvi].

Pb concentration in the rivers around the area of Pomalaa is in the range of 0.0005 mg/L until 0.0018 mg/L which means that it is still under the quality standard of water for an activity of mining, nickel processing, and as the second class water quality standard. However, Pb concentration in nature has to get a serious attention as stated by Hefni et al. that Pb and As may cause a significant ecological effect on the sediment surface¹⁵.

The result of measurement of river water quality was then measured by using Water Pollution Index which is suitable for Ministerial Decree of Environment No.115/2003 on Guidelines for Determination of Water Quality Status⁶.

Table 3:  River Pollution Index of Pomalaa Area

Station	River’s name	Pollution Index
		Mining Activity		Processing Activity		to Result in the Second Class Water quality standard
		Value of	Evaluation	Value of	Evaluation	Value of	Evaluation
1	Baula river	0.354	Good	0.698	Good	1.786	Lightly Polluted
2	Huko-huko river	0.694	Good	1.720	Lightly Polluted	2.901	Lightly Polluted
3	Pesouha river	0.353	Good	0.358	Good	1.214	Lightly Polluted
4	Kumoro river	0.300	Good	0.301	Good	0.403	Good
5	Sopura river	0.301	Good	0.507	Good	3.555	Lightly Polluted
6	Oko-oko river	0.270	Good	0.397	Good	1.155	Lightly Polluted
7	Puuroda estuary	0.647	Good	0.651	Good	0.779	Good

Source: The result of calculation, 2016

 

In Table 3, it is seen that 7 rivers located in the area of Pomalaa mining and nickel industry are still in a good condition for conducting mining activity. But, to conduct an activity of nickel industrial processing, the Huko-huko river has been categorized to be lightly polluted.  As the second class water quality standard, water quality in these five rivers (the river Baula, the river Huko-huko, the river Pesouha, and the river Oko-oko) is categorized to be lightly polluted, while the quality of water in the river Kumoro and the river Puuroda is still good as the second class water quality standard. It is according to the Government Regulation No. 82/2001 on water quality management and water pollution control.

Several kinds of literature cite the importance of water quality index application in determination of river water quality status. Water quality index plays a major role in water quality assessment of a given source as a function of time and other influencing factors[i] (Poonam et al., 2015).

Conclusion

Water quality at seven rivers located in the area of Pomalaa mining and nickel industry Southeast Province is still in a good condition.  The parameters which still under the quality standard are pH, Zn, Cu, Cr, Cr⁶⁺, Ni, Co, and Pb. While for TSS, Fe, and Cd parameter has exceeded the second class water quality standard since its function as facilities and infrastructure of water recreation, freshwater fish farming, livestock, and irrigation.