Water cart: keep it for roads
A water cart is the right tool for haul roads and open ground where dust is generated by traffic. It is mobile, familiar to operators and needs no installation. What it does not do well is treat a fixed source: it passes, the surface dries, and the dust returns. It also puts down large volumes of water, which costs diesel per trip and creates ruts.
Fog cannon: area coverage from one point
A cannon throws fine mist a long distance, so it treats a large area — stockpiles, demolition faces, loading zones — from one position. Used with a wind or dust trigger it runs only when needed. The limits: it needs a stable platform and power, and like the cart, it treats dust that has already become airborne rather than preventing it.
The option most sites miss: nozzles at the source
At a crusher discharge, a transfer point or a screen deck, dust is generated in one place, continuously. A ring manifold or a bank of lances there — running at 60–100 bar with 10–50 μm droplets — controls dust before it spreads, for a fraction of the water and no diesel at all. Most effective installations combine the three: lances at fixed sources, a cannon for the yard, and a cart for the roads.
