Dive Brief:

• Contractors whose projects include cutting or polishing concrete wind up with a beautiful product and a disposal problem – concrete slurry – but separators and solidifiers offer two relatively easy ways to handle the waste.
• Adding separators cause solids to drop out of the mixture, so the water that is left can be reused or disposed of, subject to testing to make sure its pH level is acceptable.
• Adding solidifiers turns the liquid mess to a solid that is acceptable for landfill disposal under federal Environmental Protection Agency rules as long as the product has been shown not to leave unencapsulated pollutants that will leach into groundwater

Dive Insight:

There are two other methods, but one has a downside of time and the other of money. Simple drying can work, but it may take quite a while for water to evaporate out of the slurry. The slurry can be run through a press to squeeze out water, but that requires an equipment investment.