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The history of men using sludges from rivers and lakes takes its starting point in some late antiquity. The first agricultural civilizations appeared in the valleys of the exactly such rivers as the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates, which were notable for powerful overflows. Egypt existed already forty centuries BC (before Christ). Herodotos wrote that Egypt was “a gift to the Nile”. Every year the Nile overflowed and enriched the earth with sludge, which was considered a very useful fertilization. With its usage the inhabitants gathered such enviable rich crops, even comparing with contemporary farming. The wheat crop, taking into account the three harvests a year, made 100 “units”, that means that the amount of harvested wheat exceeded the planted one in 100 times.
In 1862 the Swedish scholar H. von Post introduced two terms “gyttja” and “dy” for the first time. Then in 1901 year the German scientist R. Lauterborn added the two basic conceptions “gyttja” and “dy” with the term “sapropel”. Secondly the term “sapropel” was introduced into scientific literature by Henry Potonie. “Sapropel” is translated from the Greek language as “decaying sludge”.
In Russia interest to sapropel was resumed in 1915, and in 1919 the Sapropel Committee under the Russian Academy of Sciences was founded on N.S. Kurnakov’s initiative. The goals of the committee included the following points: elucidation of nature and compounds of sapropelic coal (fossil sapropel), development of scientific programmes for the studies, solving a number of scientific, technical and theoretical problems concerning the studies of sapropel and kindred to it substances, organization of an experimental station in the Midland of Russia, in the most typical sapropel fields.
The scientific work and research became systematic after the organization of the experimental sapropel station (1920) and the laboratory of sapropel genesis under the institute of combustible minerals in the Academy of Sciences (1931). At that time there were discovered other numerous sapropel fields, lake storages were classified and the stores of sapropel raw materials were defined in the country.
In the postwar period the main part of researches into sapropel resources were carried out for agriculture. This was the reason for creation of special geological and scientific organizations in many regions and areas of the country, beginning with the Baltic Sea to Far East.
The history of studying sapropel resources in the Omsk region totals more than 50 years: and the first serious steps to studies and usage of the local agrochemical materials were carried out in the 50-60 years of the 20th century.
In 1993 the first project of the Programme of the complex usage of natural, organic and mineral resources in the Omsk region was developed. And the concept on the development of active sapropel fields was chosen as the higher-priority one.
In the Omsk region the special-purpose region programme “Omsk Sapropel” had been realizing since 2005 till 2008. This programme was approved with the authorities of the Omsk region. The programme was aimed at the development of sapropel processing technologies, at the development of science intensive products and their certifications for agriculture, veterinary medicine, medicine and chemical industry. Consequently, on the basis of the profound sapropel processing there were obtained unique pharmaceutical compositions, prospective for being used in medicine and veterinary, sorbents, products for cosmetology, agriculture, chemistry and other fields. The results of the fulfilled work will be announced at the conference.
Currently, by virtue of upcoming stability of economic conditions for agriculture development, the circumstances have taken a favourable turn not only for sapropel production, but for searching of new spheres of its usage as well. Besides, according to the analysts’ projections the contemporary world oil reserves are enough only for 60-80 years, and for Russia this time period comes only to 30-40 years. Thus, the search of some alternative hydrocarbon material resources for the chemical industry is becoming the vital goal.
The number of water basins, rich with sapropel, is great in Russia. This is almost an inexhaustible natural resource – as annual increase of sapropel for an average lake totals 500-1000 tons. The majority of lakes, rich with sapropel, are situated in the Leningrad, Arkhangelsk, Pskov, Moscow and Yaroslav reagions; and in the Western part of Siberia, notably in the Omsk, Tomsk, Tumensk and Novosibirsk regions. 75 % of the explored sapropel reserves in the Western part of Siberia are concentrated in the Omsk region: more than two hundred lakes, the general amount of raw materials of which total 180 millions of tons, are taken into consideration.
Today the leading enterprise in sapropel production, in the territory of the Western part of Siberia, and the only one in its processing in Russia is the closed corporation “The Siberian Organics”, Omsk.
