Sustainable Utilization of Stone Slurry Waste in the West Bank

In the west bank, the stone cutting industry consumes large amounts of fresh water and produces even larger amounts of viscous liquid waste known as "Stone Slurry Waste". Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) is the main constituent of slurry waste in addition to other minerals from parent rock. Stone slurry waste is usually disposed in open areas in the west bank. This practice causes serious environmental problems. Every year death of humans and animals are reported due to drowning in open slurry waste ponds. Moreover, disposal of slurry waste in agricultural land causes a reduction of water infiltration, soil fertility and plant growth. This paper presents the engineering properties of stone slurry waste and documents successful attempts to utilize the stone powder from slurry waste in the production of different construction materials. In this study, waste water from stone slurry was used in concrete production and the resulting properties were compared with the concrete produced with tap water. The results showed that the waste water of stone slurry can be used successfully in concrete production.