Pollution of the Miass River

Problems

• Environmental problems in the Urals region

  Environmental problems primarily affected the vast Urals region, because, in its different corners over the past 50 years, dozens of large factories have been actively working and producing a variety of products. At the same time, nature is mercilessly exploited, and the subsoil, air, and water are polluted. The Miass - the largest river in the South Urals - is no exception, with wastewater from 25 industrial enterprises discharging into the river.
  
  The Miass River is the main water artery of Chelyabinsk. It runs along the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains and is a tributary of the basin of the Tobol River. On the river, there are two reservoirs: Argazinskoye and Shershenevskoye, which mode of operation is constantly monitored and controlled by environmental agencies. Even before Chelyabinsk the Miass River has a strong anthropogenic impact and at the entrance to the city is classified as "very polluted".
  
  But wastewater discharges from almost three dozen companies seriously complicate the situation with the quality of drinking water. As a result, it has deteriorated by 3.6% in microbiological indicators and by 0.4% in sanitary and chemical indicators.

• Causes of pollution of the Miass River

  The reason is that flowing on the territory of the Chelyabinsk region, the river Miass takes industrial and domestic sewage of the same name as the city of Miass, and not far from Argazinskoe reservoir in the river flows into the river Sac-Elga, which carries polluted runoff from the town Karabash. Industrial, storm, and waste waters contribute to the pollution of the river. At the outlet of the city the flow of the river Miass consists of more than 80% of wastewater, Water at the second control station near the village of Novoye Pole (6.6 km below Chelyabinsk) is characterized as "extremely dirty". The concentration of petroleum products here, as compared to the point of entry into the city, rises to 7 MPC.
  
  Among the main causes of drinking water pollution are:
  
  ● anthropogenic contamination of surface and groundwater,
  ● increased iron and manganese content,
  ● inadequate sanitary and technical conditions of water supply networks and water treatment facilities,
  ● lack of sanitary protection at water sources and water pipelines.
  
  Substances polluting the Miass River are sulfates, chlorides, phosphates, suspended solids, BOD, and manganese. At the entrance to Chelyabinsk, water exceeds copper and zinc (2-3 MPC), as well as manganese (4 MPC) and other substances.

• Sources of pollution

  The difficult situation of the river and the need to improve it have been talked about since the 70-the 80s of the last century. But it did not go further than projects and survey works.
  
  Meanwhile, the city grew, and the load increased. Today according to the data of the regional Rosprirodnadzor, about 30 industrial enterprises discharge their effluents into the river. Most of them do not have recycling systems for water supply (water is not recycled) and use outdated technologies for wastewater treatment. Some enterprises within the city limits have several times higher levels of phosphates and more than 10 times higher levels of oil products, nitrites, and metals. Unfortunately, the existing system of water use practically does not limit discharges of water into water bodies, which are sources of drinking water supply.
  
  The main sources of pollution of water bodies are enterprises:
  
  ● OJSC "Miassvodokanal",
  ● JSC Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant,
  ● MUP Vodokanal,
  ● JSC "Chelyabinsk Zinc Plant".

• Stormwater

  The city's infrastructure still does not have stormwater treatment. That means rain, melted snow - all the washout from the roads flows directly into the river. There are more than forty such untreated storm drains into the river. And most importantly, these networks are ownerless. All networks of storm "sewerage" located in the territory of Chelyabinsk, are not served by anyone and do not consist on the balance sheet.
  There are also so-called illegal water users, who use the gutters for their personal needs. This includes car washes. Formally, everyone knows that they have been discharged, but the municipal authorities are not in a hurry to deal with them and translate them into the legal field.
  
  As a result, the Miass River within the city limits is a sewage pit. And because of the characteristic of the river's low water content and low water flow, pollutants settle at the bottom. In some places, their thickness (thickness) is about 2 meters.