Dusts accounted for 3.5 percent of total emissions. VICs contributed 1.5 percent. Heavy metal emissions accounted for less than 0.01 percent of emissions. Top BASF's worldwide water requirements amounted to approximately 1,780 million cubic meters in 1999. Drinking water amounted to about 1 percent, and just short of 3 percent was made up of pumped groundwater.
Water is used for various purposes.
The bulk is used for cooling. We endeavor to minimize water consumption and to maximize the use of recycled water. Uncontaminated water can be discharged directly into the environment. Contaminated water from production or graywater is treated according to its level of contamination. Chemicophysical processes may be employed, such as neutralization, precipitation or flocculation, or the effluents may be cleaned biologically in a water treatment plant, or by combining various treatment steps.