Conditioning of the soil polluted by cement dust using polymer flocculants: 1. Effects of anionic polyacrylamide

Abstract

Old cement factories in India, did not control cement dust emission. The fine dust that settled on the soil reduced water infiltration and aeration of the soil by lowering its porosity. As a result lands located around a cement factory in Coimbatore, a south Indian city, have become uncultivatable. This polluted soil can be made workable by means of synthetic polymer flocculants. Studies on this polluted soil treated with anionic polyacrylamide showed promising results with early seedling emergence and better plant growth compared to the untreated polluted soil. Red soil unpolluted by cement dust was also used for comparison. Crops that were used are peanut, lady's finger, corn, bitter gourd, french bean and field bean.