I dump everything in my septic tank. Six-plus years and the septic guy says it looks great!
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I dump everything in my septic tank. Six-plus years and the septic guy says it looks great!
I'd be warry of dumping into a septic system, but have no experience with them. With municpal sewage, you need to look at the individual chemicals.
Exhausted fixer should never be dumped under any circumstances. Anyone dumping exhausted fix is either ignorant of the issues or is just an asshole. Silver thiosulfate compounds wreak havoc on sewage treatment systems and on aquatic ecosystems even in minute concentrations.
There are other metal compounds that should never be dumped. If you see elements like chromium or mercury on the ingredient list, assume you have toxic waste.
Chemicals like exhausted developer, fixer, hypoclear, selenium toner, etc., can go into municipal sewage, no problem. They're easily broken down by organic processes. For the sake of your pipes, it's a good idea to more or less neutralize acids and bases. Easy to do: just mix your developer and stop together, and flush down with plenty of water.
I don't know anything about color chemistry, but am guessing the issues are similar.
[QUOTE=paulr;504931]I'd be warry of dumping into a septic system, but have no experience with them. With municpal sewage, you need to look at the individual chemicals.
Exhausted fixer should never be dumped under any circumstances. Anyone dumping exhausted fix is either ignorant of the issues or is just an asshole. Silver thiosulfate compounds wreak havoc on sewage treatment systems and on aquatic ecosystems even in minute concentrations.
Would this affect, the ground water?
I only have well water, I have it tested every year. So far every things good, a little high in nitrates from the farmers who dump far more chemicals into the earth then I the
( asshole-ignorant man ) ever could
What is easier to do (and you never need to worry about who says what and is usually wrong!) is to bottle up your stuff and take it down to your local facility.
This discussion has been going on at APUG recently as well...
Of course, everyone who chimes in believes they're right (including me), but it usually just comes down to convenience and/or laziness, or "the amount I use is so little compared to the plant down the street/household cleaners/etc" mentality.
I would hold off on dumping spent fixer and selenium toner.
As to your floor, I put in something that I was told would be stain resistant. Not top of the line, though. Guess what? Stains. If you concerned about stains, I would get the best.
Thanks for all the advice
I'm going to go with the vinyl flooring that John Brady suggested and I guess I will be taking my toxins to the local toxic waste faculty
Now anyone want to help move the 8 x 10 Elwood enlarger in there
I'd suggest something from griotsgarage.com.
You can also recover your own silver, easily. Just store spent fix in a big jug, and when you have a bunch, pour it into a bucket with a wad of fine steel wool. Through ion exchange, you'll drop the silver out of solution. It will for black sludge on the bottom of the bucket.
This low tech method is extremely effective. I forget what percentage of silver ions it removes, but believe it's well over 99%. The sludge could theoretically be recycled, but you'll probably have so little of it, and it's probably so impure, that it's practically worthless. After ten years of doing this I ended up with a small jar of silver sludge.