K+S invests in diverse measures to protect the environment and maintain the variety of species. This “fish ladder” on the Werra river for the weir near the Harnrode hydroelectric plant makes the Werra more easily accessible for fish and small animals.
Water protection at the rivers Werra and Weser
It is our goal, to continue and safeguard potash production in Hesse and Thuringia on the current production level for future decades in terms of a sustainable management and a protective approach to the environment.
Potash production and water protection
Potash production is inseparably associated with the necessity to manage solid and liquid residues, which arise during treatment and further processing in various production processes. Depending on the type of crude salt and site, a combination of the production processes thermal dissolution, flotation or electrostatic separation (ESTA process) is employed. While the first two processes inevitably involve the use of water, electrostatic separation is a dry and energy-saving form of treatment. Overall, we use this technology to treat over 60 % of the crude salt. However, due to its composition, not every crude salt is suitable for dry separation in ESTA facilities. For example, potassium chloride can only be obtained from carnallite by means of the wet method, which produces a saline solution.
Within the limits of existing permits, we dispose of liquid production residues and saline water arising due to precipitation onto our tailings piles by discharging them into flowing waters and by injecting them into deeper layers of rock known as Plattendolomit. We predominantly heap up solid residues, which currently consist mainly of non-recyclable rock salt.
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Disposal of solid/liquid residues |
