What typically happens to water in aluminium production
Water is integral across the aluminium value chain, from dust suppression during bauxite mining to digestion and cooling in alumina refining and then again in the smelting and casting stages. Unfortunately, during a major chunk of the period, for many industrial corridors across India and globally, water has been used linearly: draw, use, and discharge. Contaminated water, laden with caustic soda, red mud residues, or fluorides, may be stored in tailings ponds or released with inadequate treatment, risking groundwater contamination and environmental degradation. This model has historically clashed with agricultural communities that depend on the same freshwater sources in areas like Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
