Abstract: Water harvesting is the intentional collection and concentration of rainwater and runoff to offset irrigation demands. Secondary benefits include decreased flood and erosion risk. Water harvesting techniques include micro- and macro-catchment systems, floodwater harvesting, and rooftop and groundwater harvesting. The techniques vary with catchment type and size, and the method of water storage. Micro-catchment water harvesting, for example, requires the development of small structures and targets increased water delivery and storage to the root zone whereas macro-catchment systems collect runoff water from large areas. The sustainability of water harvesting techniques at the local level are usually constrained by several factors such as labor, construction costs, loss of productive land, and maintenance, suggesting that multiple solutions are required to sustain the benefits of water harvesting techniques.

Abstract: The concentrations of U in natural waters are usually low, being typically less than 4 μg/L in river water, around 3.3 μg/L in open seawater, and usually less than 5 μg/L in groundwater. Higher concentrations can occur in both surface water and groundwater and the range spans some six orders of magnitude, with extremes in the mg/L range. However, such extremes in surface water are rare and linked to localized mineralization or evaporation in alkaline lakes. High concentrations in groundwater, substantially above the WHO provisional guideline value for U in drinking water of 30 μg/L, are associated most strongly with (i) granitic and felsic volcanic aquifers, (ii) continental sandstone aquifers especially in alluvial plains and (iii) areas of U mineralization. High-U groundwater provinces are more common in arid and semi-arid terrains where evaporation is an additional factor involved in concentrating U and other solutes. Examples of granitic and felsic volcanic terrains with documented high U concentrations include several parts of peninsular India, eastern USA, Canada, South Korea, southern Finland, Norway, Switzerland and Burundi. Examples of continental sandstone aquifers include the alluvial plains of the Indo-Gangetic Basin of India and Pakistan, the Central Valley, High Plains, Carson Desert, Española Basin and Edwards-Trinity aquifers of the USA, Datong Basin, China, parts of Iraq and the loess of the Chaco-Pampean Plain, Argentina. Many of these plains host eroded deposits of granitic and felsic volcanic precursors which likely act as primary sources of U. Numerous examples exist of groundwater impacted by U mineralization, often accompanied by mining, including locations in USA, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Portugal, China, Egypt and Germany. These may host high to extreme concentrations of U but are typically of localized extent. The overarching mechanisms of U mobilization in water are now well-established and depend broadly on redox conditions, pH and solute chemistry, which are shaped by the geological conditions outlined above. Uranium is recognized to be mobile in its oxic, U(VI) state, at neutral to alkaline pH (7–9) and is aided by the formation of stable U–CO3(±Ca, Mg) complexes. In such oxic and alkaline conditions, U commonly covaries with other similarly controlled anions and oxyanions such as F, As, V and Mo. Uranium is also mobile at acidic pH (2–4), principally as the uranyl cation UO22+. Mobility in U mineralized areas may therefore occur in neutral to alkaline conditions or in conditions with acid drainage, depending on the local occurrence and capacity for pH buffering by carbonate minerals. In groundwater, mobilization has also been observed in mildly (Mn-) reducing conditions. Uranium is immobile in more strongly (Fe-, SO4-) reducing conditions as it is reduced to U(IV) and is either precipitated as a crystalline or ‘non-crystalline’ form of UO2 or is sorbed to mineral surfaces. A more detailed understanding of U chemistry in the natural environment is challenging because of the large number of complexes formed, the strong binding to oxides and humic substances and their interactions, including ternary oxide-humic-U interactions. Improved quantification of these interactions will require updating of the commonly-used speciation software and databases to include the most recent developments in surface complexation models. Also, given their important role in maintaining low U concentrations in many natural waters, the nature and solubility of the amorphous or non-crystalline forms of UO2 that result from microbial reduction of U(VI) need improved quantification. Even where high-U groundwater exists, percentage exceedances of the WHO guideline value are variable and often small. More rigorous testing programmes to establish usable sources are therefore warranted in such vulnerable aquifers. As drinking-water regulation for U is a relatively recent introduction in many countries (e.g. the European Union), testing is not yet routine or established and data are still relatively limited. Acquisition of more data will establish whether analogous aquifers elsewhere in the world have similar patterns of aqueous U distribution. In the high-U groundwater regions that have been recognized so far, the general absence of evidence for clinical health symptoms is a positive finding and tempers the scale of public health concern, though it also highlights a need for continued investigation.

Abstract: The mining sector is at the edge of expanding to cater for natural resources that are much needed for technological development and manufacturing. Mushrooming of mines will consequently increase the number of mines closure. Moreover, mines closure have adverse impact on the environment at large and specifically on water resources. This study analyses historical groundwater quality parameters in mine intensive basin of Westrand Basin (WRB) to understand the status of groundwater quality in relation to mining activities and mine closure. Geographic information system (GIS) was used to map the spatio-temporal variation of groundwater quality in the basin and groundwater quality index (GQI) to evaluate its status. The coefficient of variation (CV) was applied to understand the stability of groundwater quality after the mine closure. Results indicated unstable and altered trend with increasing levels of acidity and salts concentration around the mines vicinity following the mine closure. The resultant maps indicated a significant deterioration of groundwater quality around the WRB with concentrations decreasing downstream. Obtained average GQI for the study period of 1996–2015 suggested a moderate groundwater quality at a range of GQI = 64–73. The CV indicated varying water quality at CV \textgreater 30% suggesting presence of source of contamination. Observed groundwater quality trends in Westrand basin suggested that mines closure present potential threat on groundwater quality and thus, a need for a robust mine closure plan and implementation.

Abstract: Uranium (U) roll-front deposits constitute a valuable source for an economical extraction by in situ recovery (ISR) mining. Such technology may induce changes in the subsurface microbiota, raising questions about the way their activities could build a functional ecosystem in such extreme environments (i.e.: oligotrophy and high SO4 concentration and salinity). Additionally, more information is needed to dissipate the doubts about the microbial role in the genesis of such U orebodies. A U roll-front deposit hosted in an aquifer driven system (in Zoovch Ovoo, Mongolia), intended for mining by acid ISR, was previously explored and showed to be governed by a complex bacterial diversity, linked to the redox zonation and the geochemical conditions. Here for the first time, transcriptional activities of microorganisms living in such U ore deposits are determined and their metabolic capabilities allocated in the three redox-inherited compartments, naturally defined by the roll-front system. Several genes encoding for crucial metabolic pathways demonstrated a strong biological role controlling the subsurface cycling of many elements including nitrate, sulfate, metals and radionuclides (e.g.: uranium), through oxidation-reduction reactions. Interestingly, the discovered transcriptional behaviour gives important insights into the good microbial adaptation to the geochemical conditions and their active contribution to the stabilization of the U ore deposits. Overall, evidences on the importance of these microbial metabolic activities in the aquifer system are discussed that may clarify the doubts on the microbial role in the genesis of low-temperature U roll-front deposits, along the Zoovch Ovoo mine.

Abstract: The Chhatrapur-Gopalpur coastal area in Odisha, India is a well-known natural high background radiation (HBRA) area due to the abundance of monazite (a thorium bearing radioactive mineral) in beach sands and soils. Recent studies on Chhatrapur-Gopalpur HBRA groundwater have reported high concentrations of uranium and its decay products. Therefore, the soils of the Chhatrapur-Gopalpur HBRA are reasonably suspected as the sources of these high uranium concentrations in groundwater. In this report, first the uranium concentrations in soil samples were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and they were found to range from 0.61 ± 0.01 to 38.59 ± 0.16 mg kg−１. Next, the 234U/238U and 235U/238U isotope ratios were measured to establish a baseline for the first time in Chhatrapur-Gopalpur HBRA soil. Multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) was used for measurement of these isotope ratios. The 235U/238U ratio was observed to be the normal terrestrial value. The 234U/238U activity ratio, was calculated to understand the secular equilibrium between 234U and 238U in soil and it varied from 0.959 to 1.070. To understand the dynamics of uranium in HBRA soil, physico-chemical characteristics of soil were correlated with uranium isotope ratios and this correlation of 234U/238U activity ratio indicated the leaching of 234U from Odisha HBRA soil.