Step 4: Paper Formation

As the pulp travels down the screen, water is drained away and recycled.   The resulting crude paper sheet, or web, is squeezed between large rollers to remove most of the remaining water and ensure smoothness and uniform thickness.  The semidry web is then run through heated dryer rollers to remove the remaining water.

Waste water is carefully cleaned and purified before its release or reuse.  Fiber particles and chemicals are filtered out and burned to provide additional power for the mill.

Papermakers carefully test for such things as uniformity of color and surface, water resistance, and ink holding ability.