EnviroTech Journal

It isn’t unusual for storms to bring snow to the Rocky Mountain region in September, so now is the time to put your deicing and/or anti-icing plans in effect. It’s better to be prepared and not need them than to be caught without a plan and the supplies you will need to implement it. After all, with an entire winter to follow it’s unlikely that those supplies will go to waste.

Whether you operate a landfill, mine, or farm, you know that dust control is an ongoing problem that needs a better (and more cost-effective) solution than just water – especially during the drought conditions affecting many parts of the country.

Because of the ongoing, and sometimes severe, drought conditions affecting many areas of the country, farmers are faced with learning new strategies to save water and reduce dependence on fertilizers. In many cases, the technologies they are turning to now have actually been available for many years but weren’t considered cost effective until farmers faced losing their crops to drought.

Nearly one-half of the estimated four million roads in the U.S. are unpaved; the reasons why range from lack of usage to the costs involved. One thing is certain: unpaved roads produce dust and lots of it as you already know. Those charged with dust control on such roads are always looking for efficient and cost-effective solutions. There are a number of products for each unique situation.

When seeking a low-chloride solution for dust control, consider BaseBind®, EnviroTech’s proprietary binder that stabilizes the road surface. Creating a barrier that resists evaporation of water, it rejuvenates itself by absorbing water from beneath. It requires a lot less chlorides because the binder holds moisture – preventing evaporation. BaseBind® is gentler to the soil and a better choice for roads in any sensitive area such as orchards, croplands, forests, protected wetlands and other ecologically sensitive environments.

Whether you are a farmer, miner, or landfill manager, the two most important keys to successful dust control are finding a product that is tailored to address your needs, and to make sure you are using it in the most effective manner.

The manager of the Larimer County Landfill, on the outskirts of Ft. Collins, Colorado, was looking for a method that would control the dust problem on the landfill's roads while reducing the drain on the city's water supply. The only dust-reduction in use at the time was plain water at an application rate of four to six truckloads per day, six days per week for a total of approximately 126,000 gallons per week. He consulted with EnviroTech Services Inc. and decided to implement their recommended plan of using X-Hesion Pro® (XPro). 

"When you implement a Water Conservation Program, you are contributing to the public good."  ---  Steve Clark, PhD                   

Steve Clark was right in his assessment; conserving water concerns and affects all aspects of society. Modern society uses water on a scale undreamt of a mere hundred years ago. As communities expand and merge into mega-cities, the drain on the water infrastructure becomes insupportable. Aquifers are being drained at a rate far higher than they can refill and it's estimated that, within the next two generations, 25 percent of the population that depends on them will begin experiencing significant problems.

Dust control in the western part of the United States is not an easy task on any level. High winds and miles of wide-open fields blended with a scalding, arid climate causes extensive erosion that destroys everything in its path. The dust and pollutants carried with it on the breeze is sometimes unbearable for man or beast. 

“We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.” So said Thomas Fuller, in 1732, though it could have been just yesterday.

The 2015 Water Shortage isn’t new; water shortages have been an ongoing threat to farms for centuries. But if you don’t have a comprehensive water conservation plan, or your plan isn’t living up to your expectations, the time to do something is now.