Cement, Energy and Environment

All of these combine to meet water quality and other human needs. These site specific complementary arrangements provide reclaimed water to standards currently met by more expensive, complex and energy intensive systems. Pollutant Removal Just as natural systems use all shapes, sizes and varieties of plants and soils in their processes, so do Designed Ecosystems. Site appropriate rocks, gravel, sand and plants are combined in lined landscape modules to receive polluted water after solids have been reduced and separated from the flow. This is where biological degradation, filtration , sedimentation and absorption are accomplished. Sand and rock filter the suspended organic particles that add to destructive downstream sedimentation and turbidity. Microbial populations residing on the filter media and plant roots feast on waste molecules, absorb potentially harmful nutrients and transform them into innocuous gases. The plants in turn take up the gases as they capture the suns energy. Where heavy metals are a problem, plants and substrates uniquely suited to their removal may be used to isolate them from the water column where they can be collected and recycled. Likewise , many pathogens will be destroyed by the biological interplay among plant roots. Those that persist are killed by additions of small amounts of chlorine or ultra violet light at the end of the process depending on the reuse strategy desired. But far more worrisome than these longstanding pollution problems are chemicals known as 'emerging contaminants' or endocrine active substances (EAS), many of which disrupt endocrine function in fish , amphibians, and mammals, including humans. Chemicals used in pharmaceutical, agriculture industrial and home care products are now being connected to diseases and deformities in several animal indicator species. Florida alligators with stunted genitalia, male small mouth bass in the Potomac River producing eggs and unexplained deformities in male children are at the forefront of investigation. John Hopkins University, the Endocrine Society, The Journal of Pediatric Urology and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are among those exam1n1ng and publishing alarming scientific studies done on these chemicals and their endocrine disrupting properties. Conclusion Fortunately, there is already evidence that Designed Ecosystems remove some of these chemicals down to almost undetectable amounts as provided in research done by the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill at several sites in Chatham County, North Carolina. The way towards a sustainable water future is being charted from peer reviewed literature authored by Designed Ecosystems' pioneer, Dr. Halford House, President of Integrated Water Strategies , and others. This is what happens when science follows a paradigm that is millions of years old. The earth invented the model that we now mimic. All we need to do is piggyback on this existing wisdom to clean and preserve what is more precious than gold: water- the magical elixir of life. Courtesy: Water Today - The Magazine, February 2013, Page 30-32. Green Field Plants & Expansion CEMENT FIRMS STEP UP CAPEX AS UPCYCLE SEEN Cement companies are planning new expansions and going full steam with the ongoing ones despite market concerns of an emerging glut situation on hopes of demand reversal in the future. UltraTech Ltd , the Aditya Birla group cement firm, is expanding its unit in Rajasthan by 2.9 million tonne at a cost of Rs. 2,000 crore. "In this quarter, the board has decided to enhance capacity at Aditya Cement Works in Rajasthan by 2.9 million tonne, including the setting up of two grinding units,"K C Birla, chief financial officer, UtraTech, told DNA. This expansion will be funded through a mix of internal accrual and borrowings. The additional facility is expected to be commissioned by March, 2015. Similarly, another leading player Shree Cement, which spent Rs. 800 crore towards capex last year, is increasing its capex to Rs. 1,000- 1,200 crore this year. Currently, the company is setting up a 4 million tonne per annum clinker plant in North India and corresponding grinding unit, industry sources said. 12