Risks of Mines Flooding and Mine Water Utilization
We consider risks associated with the flooding of mines in Gorlovka. Flooding causes a rise in the groundwater level, which threatens to damage buildings and structures. The flooding height of mine workings with water in some mines has reached a level of more than 300 m, which corresponds to the volume of flooding more than 3 million m<sup>3</sup>. The effects of flooding in areas where the majority of Central Donbass coal mines are located can cause dramatic deterioration of the hydrogeological conditions. Excessive moisture of clay rocks will lead to the loss of their structural strength owing to the thixotropic effect. Substantial danger arises from the soil subsidence under the territory of the canal Severskiy Donets-Donbass location, which provides practically all population of Donbass with drinking water. Additional risks are connected with the fact that the regional groundwater around the «Aleksandr-Zapad» mine is contaminated with the high-toxic substance - mononitrochlorbenzene. The urgent problem of the mine water extraction is grounded. The evaluation of potential negative effects of anthropogenic consequences for the ecological environment in the region and the probability of emergency situations in connection with the loss of soil stability is carried out. For several types of mine waters conditions of their treatment are examined for the purpose of their use for technical water supply and irrigation of vegetable crops. The most acceptable conditions of the coagulation are provided by the coagulant POLVAK-40F using with a dosage of 170 g/m<sup>3</sup>. The required duration of coagulation is 25-30 minutes. This allows to carry out the coagulation process according to the direct-flow scheme, which greatly simplifies the technology of water pre-treatment. The use of treated mine waters for Donbass is especially valuable as water delivery of the proper quality from traditional sources involves great difficulties. Keywords: mine flooding, risks of area underflooding, mine water, mine water purification, watering.