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Ash dumps hold ash from combustible materials like wood and coal. Residential ash dumps are connected to fireplaces, while industrial ones are larger and can be dangerous due to toxic by-products. Proper disposal is important to avoid environmental degradation.
An ash dump is a holding area for ash, a byproduct of combustible materials such as wood and coal. Ash landfills can become a serious environmental problem, especially when they are related to industrial processes. There are several ways to set up and maintain an ash dump, with the goal generally being to create a holding area that allows the hot ash to cool so it can be disposed of properly at another location.
In the sense of an ash dump in a residence, the dump is connected to a fireplace or hearth. A small stick in the floor of the fireplace allows people to push the ash into the landfill. Afterwards, it can be accessed through an ash drain door for cleaning. This allows people to build up a big pile of ashes to discard all at once. In some cases, the door is closed and the ashes are simply dumped into a large pit under the house with no means for collection, although this is not recommended. When it’s time to clean up, the ashes can be buried or worked into the soil in small amounts as a soil improver.
Industrial ash repositories such as those connected to coal-fired power plants operate on similar principles, but on a much larger scale. One problem with such ash repositories is that sometimes companies never make arrangements for offsite disposal and the ashes accumulate on site. There have been instances where containment has broken, allowing ash to escape, often in humid conditions, which turns the ash into a sludge that can be carried across the landscape.
A key problem with industrial ash landfills is that they can be dangerous. Ashes often contain dioxins and other toxic by-products of combustion. If the contents of a coal ash dump are released freely, it can lead to environmental degradation, including contamination of water supplies and ruin of land used for crops. This has led to several lawsuits in various regions of the world as citizens attempt to recoup their losses after contamination of ash dumps.
The question of what to do with the combustion by-products left over from heat or electricity generation is a pressing one in some areas. Materials in an ash dump take a long time to break down, and the load of residual ash and other materials is steadily increasing as heat and energy demands increase. Some companies sell their ashes for use as a filler in construction and in other applications.
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