Displaying items by tag: Water

Pakistan: The Supreme Court has asked cement producers using water near the Katas Raj Temples in Punjab to submit recommendations for a policy on how they should pay for the resource. The court noted that the companies have used water worth ‘billions of rupees’ without any payment, according to the Pakistan Observer newspaper. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar criticised a local government official, “for giving away everything for free.” The court has been investigating media reports that the pond at the Hindu heritage site was drying out due to water consumption by nearby cement plants.

India: Heidelberg Cement India has been certified as over six times net water positive by TOV SOD, an independent certifying agency. During the 2016 – 2017 financial year the company’s cement plants withdrew 1.09kL of water from various sources but they harvested 6.97kL of water. This implies that the company collected more water from sustainable sources, such as rainfall, than it used. The company's multidimensional approach includes diverting rainwater to
reservoirs, installing water harvesting systems, reviving of bore wells, controlling seepage and educating its staff on water conservation.

China: Shanxi province has introduced water metering rules for industrial users, including cement producers. Under the new regulations, reported upon by Reuters, Xinhua and the local Development and Reform Commission, companies that exceed mandatory water usage standards will have to pay incremental charges. The levies range from doubling the cost of water if usage exceeds levels by less than 20%, to five times the cost and the threat of cutting off of water supplies if usage standards are exceeded by more than 60%. The province also has a target to cut its dust pollution by 40% over the winter.

Bolivia: Ramiro Heredia, the technology manager of Empresa Publica Productiva Cementos de Bolivia (ECEBOL), says that the company has an issue with the water supply to the new Potosí cement plant it is planning near Chuitara. The cement producer has asked the local government for help, according to the El Potosí newspaper. Once operational the plant will require 6.5l/s, although it will be able to cope with 3.5l/s during the construction phase. ECEBOL is also due to sign a contract with Empresa Nacional de Electricidad (ENDE) to provide electivity to the unit. Construction at the site is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2018.

US: The Southern Trinity Groundwater Conservation District water district in Texas’ McLennan County is seeking an injunction against Lehigh Cement, alleging that the business is improperly pumping millions of litres of water from the Trinity Aquifer without necessary permits at its plant in Waco. It claims that the plant owes thousands of dollars for its water use over the past decade and possibly more in civil penalties for pumping water from a well without a permit.

The lawsuit asks Judge Vicki Menard to issue an injunction to block Lehigh from drawing water from a well on its property at 100 S. Wickson Road until the company obtains a permit.

Water district general manager Scooter Radcliffe said he hopes the matter can be resolved without the need for an injunction. "We are going to try to work with them the best way we can and try to get them to contact us so we can get this thing resolved as quickly as possible," Radcliffe said.

Indonesia: Semen Indonesia has decided to continue to develop its new factory in Rembang, Central Java following protests by some local residents. Semen Indonesia's CEO Suparni said that the construction is currently 60% complete, with production expected by October 2016.

Suparni admitted that the development of the factory has been opposed by some of the local residents. Residents of North Kendeng, experts and academics have criticized the development of the factory. Untung Sudadi, a geologist from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture said that the North Kendeng area, where part of the factory will be built, is a karst area, which collects water for local residents and can be susceptible to sinkhole formation and instability.

Similar to an underground basin, karst areas function as water catchment areas. "Karst is essential to maintain water supply," said Untung. He added that conducting mining activities in karst areas would cause environmental damage.

Suparni said that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the cement factory has been completed. He also said that the presence of the factory would not disturb water supplies to the local society.

Mexico: Holcim has announced plans to reduce its water consumption by 14% year-on-year in 2015 in Mexico. It has invested US$332,167 in the initiative and has installed meters at all of its cement plants. The installation was carried out to reduce the business's operational water footprint.

Bangladesh/Malawi: Germany's Loesche has been supporting the non-profit organisation Charity: Water. The first result of the engagement was a water well in Lutarupara-Molliktola, Bangladesh.

After more than a year's preparation, at the end of 2014 an additional well was completed in Chiphwafu village, Malawi. The drilled well allows the village community year-round access to clean drinking water that is free of pathogens and pollutants. Alongside the construction of the well, the people in the village were taught about safe and sustainable ways to use water. Of Malawi's 15.9 million inhabitants, around 3 million have no access to clean water and 92% have no access to sanitation facilities.

Water conservation is on the agenda this week with two water-related news stories from the multinational cement producers.

First came a story that Lafarge Canada is preparing to run a trial using waste water from hydraulic fracking at its Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia. Currently the plant uses 35ML/yr of fresh water from a nearby lake to control temperatures of its rotary cement kiln. Potentially some of this water could be replaced with water produced during the fracking process. This water would then evaporate and be emitted from the stack.

The background to this pilot project is that the Nova Scotia regional government introduced a two-year moratorium on fracking in 2012 while it reviews the situation. Given the high level of public debate on fracking, any process using waste products from it is going to receive a high level of attention. One of the major arguments against fracking concerns the toxicity of the fluids used. Hence Lafarge stressed in their statement how safe the waste water would be before it would even be used in the plant. Safe enough to drink apparently.

Focusing on the industrial aspects of the pilot for cement production, it will be fascinating to see what effects the fracking waste water might have even just as a coolant on plant equipment. Among other contaminants, fracking waste water often contains high levels of salt. Managing a transition from a fresh water coolant source to a saltier more corrosive one may pose the first of many challenges.

Later in the week Cemex announced the latest stage in its work on water conservation with the implementation of a corporate water policy. The policy aims to focus on resource availability, resource quality, and ecosystem integrity. It continues Cemex's Water Project, developed in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Notably Cemex's water policy aims to maximise efficiency by managing water consumption with increased captured recycled or captured water usage given as an example. How Cemex might use recycled water from a contentious industrial process such as hydraulic fracking is not specified. However, the policy does aim to actively reduce pollution and limit the effects of discharge upon water ecosystems from its operations.

Water policies such as a Cemex's are great for an industry that often has an image problem in the eyes of environmentalists. Linking cement production to fracking runoff will not improve this image. Yet placing science before lobbying is the way to go. Bring on the results of the pilot.

Mexico: Cemex has implemented a corporate water policy that defines its global strategy for responsible water management across its operations worldwide. The policy, developed in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), aims to develop business activities in a sustainable manner, minimising pressure on water resources and to cover three essential aspects that include resource availability, resource quality and ecosystem integrity.

Cemex's corporate water policy includes the company's compliance with relevant regulations and pledges to maximise water efficiency by managing water consumption and utilising sustainable water sources such as rainwater.

Since forming their partnership in 2010, Cemex and IUCN have standardised water measurement and management to increase water efficiencies in all of the company's operations.