Silt traps are used in mining and construction to contain water contaminated with sediment, allowing the sediment to settle before the water reaches a clean stream. They prevent ecological disasters and can even be used to recover precious metals.
A silt trap is a designated area where water contaminated with suspended sediment is contained as a result of construction activity or water runoff. While the water is in the trap, sediment can settle to the bottom of the trap until it can be removed. These devices can be made using silt curtains, silt fences, or a series of shallow ponds to naturally filter the sediment out of the water before it reaches a clean stream or body of water.
Environmental protection efforts, such as silt trapping, are often seen in conjunction with mining or construction. The activity of these industries can result in the production of grain size particles, stone dust and other components that create suspended sediments when they are captured by water runoff during rainfall. Because rainwater carries these particles and other pollutants to streams, rivers and lakes, suspended sediments can cause a serious problem for the fish and other wildlife that inhabit these waters.
The silt trap is designed to prevent the ecological disaster that could ensue if these streams were to suddenly fill with suspended sediment due to mining or construction. Using the laws of gravity and the physics associated with liquid suspensions, the trap allows denser and heavier particles of the suspended sediment to fall out of suspension creating an artificial break in the current. These particles are easily picked up by fast moving water runoff, but when the water current is slowed or completely flushed out of the silt trap, the heavier sediment particles naturally fall to the bottom of the trap.
Left unchecked, silty soil and suspended sediments could travel long distances in fast-moving water. The potential for damage to aquatic fauna is very great. By incorporating the silt trap into a mining or construction site, these industries can prevent unnecessary pollution or damage to the local watershed, thereby helping the environment.
In some cases, the silt trap might even serve an additional purpose. Particularly in the mining industry, it becomes the last opportunity to recover precious metal ores that would otherwise have been lost. Settling tables, sluices, and gold pans are time-tested methods of recovering gold, and these methods all work on the same principles as a silt trap. Many mining companies that produce ore in areas where precious metals are found may also regularly remove the accumulated sediment in their traps and process it to recover any precious metals that can be found.
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