SimpleChemist-238 - 1-12-2014 at 05:40
I might be moving to a area that has no city water and it is feed by ground water. This means that disposing of chemicals and side products after a
experiment would go right down the sink and into the ground water? This might pose a problem if so. How do you dispose of lab waste safely in a home
lab feed by ground water?
Please excuse spelling if any mistakes
Bert - 1-12-2014 at 07:17
You need to think CAREFULLY about ethically and safely disposing of lab waste REGARDLESS of being on a city sewer or a country septic system- The city
didn't design that sewage treatment plant to handle water soluble heavy metal compounds, explosives, etc. They designed it to handle piss, shit, soapy
water and kitchen wastes.
What have you BEEN doing?!
And YES! Do not put any lab wastes down the toilet/drain into a septic tank type waste disposal system except the most benign types- Unless you'd
eat/drink that waste without a problem. You'll kill the organisms that break down your waste, as well as poisoning the local water table.
WGTR - 1-12-2014 at 10:51
Working at a business forces one to develop certain important habits in the lab. Our waste water and runoff is monitored very closely by the EPA.
Basically nothing can be dumped down the drain other than water. Any infractions are dealt with swiftly, and can result in expensive fines, and loss
of employment for the employee responsible.
As a result, I've developed the habit of figuring out what to do with any generated waste before starting a project in the lab. Any rinse water from
lab processes is caught and sent out for hazardous waster disposal. It doesn't matter if cadmium is precipitated completely as a sulfide, the
leftover clear water is considered just as toxic as the original solution, and can't be dumped down the drain. This is partly because we aren't
certified to treat our own waste water. Many times I will treat waste solutions to render them safer for transport, but cannot dump anything down the
drain.
Yes, if you have a well, then you are drinking whatever motor oil, cooking grease, and chromic acid waste that you've been dumping in the yard. If
you're on city water, then the entire city is drinking your motor oil, cooking grease, and chromic acid waste. Fun.
For home chemistry, your city may have a residential waste disposal center that can handle your disposal needs. Many times this service is free.
Aside from this, think ahead before starting a project. For many heavy metals, sulfide precipitation is adequate. Evaporation is your friend, as it
is easier to get rid of solid salts than containers of various liquids. If it's flammable, burn it. If it's valuable, reclaim it. If it grows an
arm and tries to attack you, aim for center mass.
chemrox - 1-12-2014 at 16:06
Find the local transfer station that handles chemical waste and become a conditionally exempt small quantity generator. Talk about being part of the
problem! You've been pouring your waste on the ground??!! This why people get paranoid about chemistry hobbyists. One of the most environmentally
problematical groups of compounds is the halogenated solvents. They are DNAPLs.. denser than water and insoluble compounds. They migrate toward the
bottom of the first aquifer they encounter and are stopped by the impervious layer, aquitard or aquiclude, that serves as the bottom of the water
bearing zone. There is no such thing thing as "away." You can discard but you can't "throw away" anything. Be a good citizen and pay the money. It's
not that much. Don't collect the waste ina container and dump it in the garbage. It will leak out and migrate vertically through the landfill. Years
ago in my area a father and son team went metal detecting over an old landfill and dug up some pyrophoric metal. One was seriously injured; the other
killed.
[Edited on 2-12-2014 by chemrox]
SimpleChemist-238 - 10-12-2014 at 19:31
I have not been pour waste on ground. Thanks for the info. I use to know a chemist in back water Georgia who did that, hate to live there. Some people
are very carless. I am getting my lab certification soon so I won't be doing as much working in my home lab.