Water Management
Cement plants generate little or no water effluent. Wet process plants use a large volume of water in the grinding of the raw materials and that water evaporates in the kiln. A large amount of energy is required to accomplish this. For those reasons, U.S. cement manufacturers are closing wet process kilns and installing more energy efficient dry process plants. For both dry and wet process plants, some water is used in the non-contact cooling of machinery and when necessary water is sprayed into hot gas streams to be cooled.
Potential discharges to surface water may result from stormwater runoff, but cement manufacturers take great care to follow strict federal, state, and local regulations and control their water effluents effectively with no impact on the environment.
Because stormwater can carry fine particles of dust, plant operators channel this water into holding ponds where the solid particles settle out. The clean water can then be recycled to cool equipment in the plant or discharge pursuant to permits. Cement plants that discharge any industrial process water or stormwater must comply with the permits, guidelines, and programs under the federal Clean Water Act and state/local environmental agencies.
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