Industrial Use of Water

When we think about the industrial use of water, we fail to understand that almost every industry that is engaged in making physical goods, has to have access to large amounts of water to process them. Clean water that goes into these factories helps with the chemical reactions that have to take place in the production of the goods. Needless to say that much of the water that is left over afterwards, needs to be treated and cleaned up.

The mining industry is one where water is used constantly to wash through the ores that are being mined. Being the universal solvent, water based solutions manage to dissolve just about everything that is impure and not part of the ore that is being mined for. Only trouble is, the chemical solution that is technically a waste by product is terribly harmful to the local environment.

In past years this water would simply be released into the closest river or lake. It is only when the harmful effect of such practices began to become evident in the local environments, that new policies were designed to safeguard the environment. Despite all the rules, we are still struggling to reverse the harm that polluted industrial water has caused the planet. Unfortunately there is no magic cure for this, only a few slow and steady science experiments that will eventually help the planet.