Unfortunately we're still dealing with this and unfortunately, the link is broken - page not found. I too, am thinking about getting in to Wet Plate processing, and wondering about the waste disposal.Originally Posted by Annie M.
Unfortunately we're still dealing with this and unfortunately, the link is broken - page not found. I too, am thinking about getting in to Wet Plate processing, and wondering about the waste disposal.
Waste disposal is an issue for me too - I'm in a situation very similar to the OP's: rural; no municipal water or sewer; on a septic system. After reading the labels of developers and fixers, it makes me shudder to consider routing the chemicals into the ground, via septic system or otherwise. I don't know of any reliable data on the persistence of photo-chemicals in soil, never mind on the migratory pathways of those chemicals and their effects on flora and fauna. I certainly would not chance my $15k drain field.
I've established a process that works well for me, a low volume user on a budget. I use direct-sun exposure to evaporate as much fluid as possible in two galvanized-steel 7-gallon buckets. In winter I tend to accumulate 20-30 gallons of fluid over the capacity of the buckets. I store that excess in 5-gallon plastic jugs. The stored effluent is easily evaporated in the buckets in summer, along with current waste. The remnant sludge goes into a 5 gallon jug or two, which I can dispose of at the county hazardous waste disposal site in October, an annual free event.
It helps that my property is 5 acres: I can store the chemicals away from the drain field, the well, and the house, and away from any of those on neighboring properties.
The main drawbacks to this process are in arranging film/paper development sessions to minimize waste production; lugging waste from the darkroom to the evaporation site ~45 yards away; replacing the buckets once a year (they rust); keeping animals out; and the annual 1.5 hour commute to the hazardous waste disposal site. The buckets cost me about $70 per year, and galvanized hardware cloth to keep animals out was a $25 investment for a 2 year supply.
On a budget like the one the OP mentions, this process could be done up in spades. Disposal at a for-profit hazardous waste company might also be an alternative.
Good luck!
cheers
Tom
Check the thread https://www.largeformatphotography.i...posal-question
wherein Graybeard states: "Silver is a potent bacteriacide; When the metal was less costly, silver nitrate was proposed for use in sanitizing public swimming pools. The eyes of newborns are still treated in most states (as required by statute), with silver nitrate to prevent blindness caused by congenital disease (check your own birth certicate, it may well document that you were cared for in this way). I speak from knowledge on this; I'm a chemist who, before retirement, was responsible for product development at a major silver chemicals manufacturer.
If you dispose of spent fixer down your household drains you will do serious damage to the friendly bacteria in your septic system and probably cause a consequent premature failure of your septic leach field."
Every few months I toss one of these in the toilet:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Green-Go...17A6/206337694
About 6 years here with film/paper development in a basement darkroom going to a septic tank. No problems.
My area treats all waste water in swamp ponds
No fencing
dont fall in
we also have open old coal mine tunnels
and very few wear seat belts
I stay home
Tin Can
Minimize the toxicity of the chemicals you use and neutralize as many as you can.
No Pyro use Metol, abscorbic acid, acetic acid, caffenol, etc.
Use plain fix well diluted witout hardner.
If carbon printing, use ferric ammonium citrate instead of dichromate, or neutralize dichromate with sodium sulphite before disposal.
Sounds like Corran restores, or heads off, whatever damage he might observe, or anticipate, to his septic tank bacterial population with the Green Gobbler. That's not to say that the photo-chemicals have been gobbled up - but the bacterial population in the septic tank has been augmented. This doesn't speak to the leach field, which is the component of a septic system most likely to broadcast pollutants into the environment.
There are other threads here and in the Photrio forum, among others, where photographers attest to 'no problem' dumping non-industrial photo-chemical loads into septic systems. Okay - I trust all are reporting their observations accurately.
I don't trust that casual observations are necessarily adequate. The Green Gobbler may mitigated damage to a septic tank bacterial population, which can have some pretty obvious symptoms, but I don't think it's capable of mitigating photo-chemical pollution of the soil in a drain field. And who among photographers is capable of monitoring photo-chemical infiltration in and beyond their drain field?
It's a tough issue for photographers to adjudicate, I think: a report doesn't exist that I could find, describing a convincing investigation into the migration and filtration of photo-chemicals in soils, via septic systems, and giving useful rules-of-thumb. So many soils! So many chemicals! Never mind variations in water tables, population density, geology.
Given that difficulty, I'm paying attention to Kodak and other chemical manufacturers (and their proxies) when they say about septic systems: "Don't pour it down the drain!" . The bold print below is my emphasis. The bold blue headings are links to the quoted documents.
Sprint Systems:
In general, used darkroom chemicals, except fixer, may be disposed of in a municipal sewer system if one has a home-based darkroom. Used solutions should never be disposed of in a septic system. Septic systems are designed for biological treatment of standard household waste, and do not properly treat chemical wastes associated with photographic processing.
Sino-Promise XTOL SDS sheet:
13. Disposal considerations
Disposal instructions
Collect and reclaim or dispose in sealed containers at licensed waste disposal site. Dispose of contents/container in accordance with local/regional/national/international regulations.
Local disposal regulations
Dispose in accordance with all applicable regulations.
Hazardous waste code
The waste code should be assigned in discussion between the user, the producer and the waste
disposal company.
Waste from residues / unused products
Dispose of in accordance with local regulations. Empty containers or liners may retain some
product residues. This material and its container must be disposed of in a safe manner (see:
Disposal instructions).
Contaminated packaging
Since emptied containers may retain product residue, follow label warnings even after container is emptied. Empty containers should be taken to an approved waste handling site for recycling or
disposal.
I experienced a septic system failure about 15 years ago that I attributed to photo chemicals down the drain and killing the digestive bacteria over a period of years. Even though I dosed the system monthly with bacteria, the residual silver probably acted as a bacteriocide, requiring complete septic system excavation and replacement in the middle of an Alaskan winter. We barely got the job done even with a large excavator.
Septic systems are not suitable disposable for any significant quantities of photo chemistry even if you are living on large acreage. OTOH, some of our aquifers sporadically have high levels of natural arsenic. A little Metol or thiosulfate is trivial in comparison.
I would look into clean harbors waste removal. they service your region and are an affordable solution.
I would not dump green gobbler down my drain ... people go great lengths to dump home remedies down the drain (they don't really work ) .. to me at least it wasn't worth the added stress .. between potential ruined septic and well water, corroded pipes and potential fines ... it was kind of a no-brainer ,
waste hauler is a sure thing and there's paper work so down the road if someone gets wind that someone is a low volume "waste generator" there's waste hauler info saying that it was taken away and the blue lawn is from the gasworks that used to be on the property ...
Last edited by jnantz; 7-Jul-2023 at 07:13.
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