Glass manufacturing plants, pollution

The objective of another project was to evaluate the level of pollution in water and sediments in Lake Turawskie, a storage reservoir built in the 1930s on the Mala Panew River in southwestern Poland, and then to search for a correlation between the analytical chemical results and the toxicity parameters estimated from the application of biotests. Polluted waters as well as large amounts of polluted sediments enter the reservoir from the Mala Panew and its tributary, the Libawa. Industrial activities in the river basin include silver, zinc, and lead processing plants, steel and glass manufacture, and the production of cellulose and chemicals. Agriculture presents a further potential threat (e.g., fertilizer and pesticide run-off), as does the use of the reservoir s banks for recreational purposes. 

Calcium carbonate as limestone was used to build the Roman aqueduct in Figure 7-6. When calcium carbonate decomposes, it forms an oxide of calcium called lime. Lime is one of the most important industrial compounds. For example, lime plays a role in the manufacture of steel, paper, and glass. Gardeners use lime to make soil less acidic. Wastewater treatment plants use lime, as do devices that remove pollutants from smokestacks. Lime is mixed with sand and water to form a paste called mortar. 

The development of the different types of glass fibre has been in response to demand from specific markets, and the latest call is for improvement in long-term resistance to chemicals. The whole sector termed anti-corrosion is now one of the most important applications for glass fibre-reinforced materials, embracing the industries of marine products, chemicals, pulp and paper, and food manufacture as well as water treatment, anti-pollution, power plant desulphurisation, and many other important sectors dealing with environmental protection. 

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