Mining facilities have an ongoing groundwater pollution issue resulting from the seepage of the mine's tailing facility, waste dumps and natural conditions. Given the complicated water quality issues and the need to maximize the volume of extracted groundwater for re-injection into the aquifer, a study was performed to evaluate the application of reverse osmosis (RO) for contaminated groundwater treatment. Due to high concentrations of calcium and silica in the contaminated groundwater, the feed water recovery of the RO process was restricted to less than 60%. To enhance feed water recovery, a primary RU followed by intermediate concentrate treatment and a secondary RU process was evaluated. For intermediate concentrate treatment, electrocoagulation was compared to chemical softening. Chemical softening and electrocoagulation were both effective in reducing the concentration of calcium and silica by more than 90% in the primary RU concentrate. Electrocoagulation was more efficient than chemical softening in the removal of metals, specifically mercury and selenium. With intermediate treatment of the primary RU concentrate in combination with a secondary RU process, up to 90% overall feed water recovery was achievable. The approach presented in this study can be utilized for efficient treatment of contaminated groundwater at industrial facilities with minimal concentrate discharge. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.