What is Lime and what else is it used for?

• 31 March 2025
• Lime Sales

Did you know? As early as 4000 BC the ancient Egyptians used quicklime, after mixing it with water, as a construction material for building pyramids!

Lime is produced from limestone which is a naturally occurring sedimentary rock consisting of high levels of calcium and/or magnesium carbonate and/or dolomite (calcium and magnesium carbonate), along with minerals. 

Lime supports our everyday life in the UK; making the water we drink safe, the air we breathe cleaner, our steel purer and construction projects more stable. It goes into glass production, paper manufacturing, chemical processes, plaster, mortar and other building materials and - of course  - agriculture however, the largest single use of lime remains steel manufacturing, where it is used to remove impurities.  

In construction, lime and lime-based products can dry wet soils to eliminate downtime, increase productivity and keep projects moving. They quickly modify weak soils to make work cleaner, safer, faster and easier. Soil modification provides an improved working platform that keeps materials coming to the job site. Lime derived products can also be used to stabilize soils providing long term, permanent strength gains. These strength gains can result in a thinner pavement layer if considered in the design saving contractors money.

In environmental projects, lime is used to treat stack gases from power plants, industrial facilities, and medical and hazardous waste incinerators.  Lime absorbs and neutralises sulphur oxides from these gases, helping to prevent acid rain and reducing emissions of hazardous air pollutants, including mercury.

Lime is used for water softening and to remove impurities from drinking water.  Furthermore, lime is a highly cost-effective method to treat sewage sludge and animal waste from concentrated animal feeding operations.  Likewise, industrial facilities and mining operations use lime to treat wastewater by adjusting the pH of acidic wastewater, removing phosphorus and nitrogen, and promoting clarification.

The chemical industry uses lime in the production of a variety of chemicals including sodium alkalis, calcium carbide, cyanimide, citric acid, petrochemicals, propylene glycol glycerin, magnesia, calcium hypochlorite, and many others which are used in millions of products we use every day.

Lime really is a marvellous mineral.