The Importance of Recycling Water in the Production of Aggregates

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Omar Ramírez Tejada, stressed the importance of using sustainable mining practices, mainly those which use water, when extracting and processing aggregates in order to reduce the levels of desertification and to avoid air pollution in the process.

“The most important factor of this process is the recycling of water which permits the reuse of 70% of the liquid being used…”

The minister was speaking on the occasion of the release of environmental permit No. 0135-07 to the Ciaffarafa Business Group S.A. which will extract aggregates in the Galeón, Baní region. The company fulfilled the requisites established under Law 64-00 which requires, among other things, an environmental impact study to be done in the area. The project has the extraction capacity of 100 cubic meters per hour and is using a water recycling system that allows them to recuperate from 70% to 80% of the water being used.

“The most important factor of this process is the recycling of water which permits the reuse of 70% of the liquid being used. This is vital especially in this southern region where there is already a problem of desertification,” said Ramírez Tejada.

The aggregate plant is located in Cañafístol, Galeón (Baní), two kilometers from the closest aquifer and 150 meters from the river bed, according to the environmental norms established to regulate the extraction of aggregate.

It took a year to install the machinery and to begin the operations that involve approximately 20 people.

Model Process

Obtaining aggregates from the earth begins with the extraction of material from the earth’s crust which is carried to the processing plant while still humid in order to prevent the dried powder it produces from contaminating the air during the process, said the president of the Ciaffarafa Business Group.

Fabio Ciaffarafa, president of the company, stressed that his company is the only one in the country that uses this system. The process allows for the creation of a compost that later is used to restore the plant layer of the earth that was disturbed during the extraction.

“We have had public hearings in Baní and Cañafístol with the peasants and farmers in the area in order to meet their expectations with regard to the company and our work,”

The extracted material is carried by large earth-moving equipment or belt conveyors then dumped. Special machinery, including mills, is then used for crushing and separating various sizes of aggregate to be sorted into three types of products: sand, gravel and crushed stone. The largest output and most utilized material is gravel.

“There is a machine that does a particular job, like that of a river, based on a grading system which is a vital task to obtain the aggregate required for the building of bridges or major construction projects,” said Ciaffarafa.

In addition to this, the company has already installed a nursery where they are growing seedlings that will be used to restore the soil on the land that has been mined.

Environmental authorities have stressed how important is it for these types of companies to take into consideration the communities in which they are carrying out their operations.

“We have had public hearings in Baní and Cañafístol with the peasants and farmers in the area in order to meet their expectations with regard to the company and our work,” said Ciaffarafa.

The main market served by this aggregate plant is in Santo Domingo , Barahona and Peravia. The useful lifetime of the company is expected to last some 7 to 10 years which, according to the Environment Minister himself, allows the owners to find new areas of operation and exploitation, as provided by the law.