A video to explain the mining history of the Huelva province and the purification project of waters affected by this industry

This initiative is part of the promotion of the LIFE ETAD project, with the participation of  Sacyr,  UHU and AMAYA

A video, by way of short documentary, explains the context and the path of the mining industry in the province of Huelva, the heritage left to the Odiel River in the form of waste and the solution sought by the LIFE ETAD project. This video is part of the promotion activities of this European project and is available in the following Youtube channel (link still not available).

The LIFE ETAD project promoted the construction and implementation of a new water treatment plant for water contaminated by  acid mine drainage. The station, already working in Almonaster la Real allows testing a patented technology by the University of Huelva (UHU) that enables the purification of water by means of a passive treatment with resource to reactive materials. Besides UHU, also the Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua (AMAYA) – Agency for the Environment and Water (AMAYA)  and the company sacyr take part on the project..

The corporate video with a 6,5 minute duration has been produced with permission of the Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua  - Agency for the Environment and Water, partner in charge of the project promotion actions. This has been awarded to the Mettre producer, with a budget of 3.645 Euros and an execution time of two months. The audio-visual work counts with great amount of graphic resources for a better contextualisation of the mining industry waste problem, as well as the proposed solution of a passive treatment.

Aerial film sequences were thus performed by means of drones, as well as animated photos and 3D interactive graphics. The work has likewise English subtitles to ensure a promotion as wide as possible. To perform the footage of historic material, the Agencia de Medio Ambiente y Agua  – Agency for the Environment and Water re  quested the collaboration of both the Museum of the Province of Huelva, within the purview of the Council for Culture, Tourism and Sports and the Mining Museum of Riotinto, within the purview of the Foundation with the same name. In both cases, a valuable archive has been made available, that properly enriched this documentary, from the mining exploration performed by Carthaginians and Romans, till the English Company Rio Tinto Company Limited and its subsequent abandonment.

The video also collects the participation of representatives of the three partners of the project, who tell about their participation in this initiative as well as the importance of having at disposal a purifying system of water deriving from mine drainage, since this technology might be useful for other places in the world with the same kind of problems as the Huelva case.

This audio-visual work features one of the main promotion elements of the work that is being performed in the framework of the LIFE ETAD project and is also available in the internet page of the project (link still unavailable).

The LIFE ETAD project

The acid mine drainage consist of water that undergoes an alteration of its PH to acid levels in the locations where there was mining activity. The fact that the Odiel basin contains one of the most contaminated waters in the world, make of it the perfect location for testing. The Conserjeria de Medio Ambiente y Agua - Council for Environment and Water was the entity in charge of the design of the station. On its turn, the company Sacyr Construcción was the partner in charge of the accomplishment of the works, while the University of Huelva contributed with knowledge and research related with the passive purifying system that is being validated in the project. The LIFE ETAD project is financed by the LIFE financing instrument of the European Union. From the total budget of 2,6 million Euros that support the LIFE, 49,9% belong to community funds and the rest is sponsored by the partners. This project has a 4-year duration and is running till December 2017.

Source: Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación del Territorio