Abstract
Mine wastewater and hot spring water flow into the Toyohira River, a source of water for Sapporo City. Since the concentrations of components contained in such water change with the flow regime of the river, water quality management is considered a difficult challenge. The authors focused on the dynamic state of arsenic compounds, and found that hot spring water contains these arsenic compounds in dissolved state at high concentrations and that the characteristics of pulled runoff change from point source pollution (dilution pollution) to non point source pollution (runoff load increase pollution) in the flow process of the river. This change seems to closely involve water storage in dams, and we gathered that arsenic as a component of hot spring water entering the Toyohira River accumulates in dam sediment by absorption in silt and clay and that the runoff and re-dissolution of silt and clay at times of high flow rate causes the runoff and return of arsenic to the river. It was revealed that sediment in dams is a potential source of arsenic pollution.
