Construction and application of a composite model for acid mine drainage quality evaluation based on analytic hierarchy process, factor analysis and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation: Guizhou Province, China, as a case
Authors: Han Hang , Li Bo , Yang Lei , Yang Yu , Wang Zhongmei , Mu Xiwei , Zhang Beibei 
Published: February 2024

The process of mining activities often causes the formation of acid mine drainage (AMD). Through rock fractures and underground rivers, AMD can easily enter the groundwater environment near mines and cause serious pollution to water quality. In order to effectively evaluate the quality of polluted mine water and to understand its threat to the ecosystem around the mine. In this study, four AMD pollution distribution areas, Guiyang City, Bijie City, Qianxinan Prefecture, and Qiandongnan Prefecture in Guizhou Province, were used as the study area. A composite model for mine water quality evaluation was constructed using factor analysis (FA), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE). Furthermore, by introducing the weighted average method and the level characteristic value (J), the water quality type and the water body environmental quality were evaluated comprehensively, respectively. Compared with the traditional evaluation model, the AHP‐FA‐FCE model has obvious advantages in the selection of evaluation indicators, the determination of indicator weights, and the comprehensive evaluation of water quality types, and the evaluation results obtained are more reasonable and accurate. Three common factors mainly controlled by mineral oxidation factor, human activity factor, and mineral dissolution factor were extracted by dimension reduction of the original hydrochemical data by FA. The water quality of the mine water samples was evaluated using SO42−, Fe, Al, Mn, Na, and F− as evaluation indicators, and the results showed that the mine water samples in the study area as a whole were dominated by class V water, which accounted for 77.78% of the total. Based on the statistical analysis of the original data, it was found that influenced by the water–rock interactions in the study area and the AMD pollution components, the hydrochemical type of the mine water is mainly SO42−‐Ca‐Mg type. The water body environmental quality of mine water in four areas, Guiyang City, Qianxinan Prefecture, Bijie City, and Qiandongnan Prefecture, is from excellent to poor. The average level characteristic value of all the areas is more than 3, and the overall environmental quality of the water body is poor. The strong water–rock interaction and mining activities in the study area may be the main cause of AMD pollution. The results of this study may provide some theoretical reference for the water quality evaluation of AMD‐polluted areas.

Practitioner Points

A composite model for mine water quality evaluation was constructed.

A factor analysis‐based evaluation indicator selection method is proposed.

This study improved the weighting process of the traditional fuzzy comprehensive evaluation.

A water quality discriminant based on the weighted average method is proposed.

The water environmental quality of various types of mine water was evaluated.