[pure-silver] Re: disposing of developer and fixer in rural areas
- From: shannon Stoney <shannonstoney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2012 15:04:44 -0500
Presumably this sludge also had some developer chemicals in it, such as metol
or hydroquinone?
On Oct 10, 2012, at 2:13 PM, Ken Sinclair wrote:
> Many years ago….
>
> About 50 or so, My mentor would pour his used fixer into a carboy… to which
> he would then pour in used paper
> developer that still had some 'life' left.
>
> After a few months there would be a 'dark sludge' lying at the bottom of his
> 'capped' carboy.
>
> The carboy was put up on the table top and the clear liquid syphoned off to a
> few inches above the 'sludge'.
>
> Every now and again, he would add some water, stir to get the 'sludge' well
> mixed…. and again slowly syphon off
> the liquid into another carboy (through a number of paper filters in a filter
> funnel). This collected sludge was allowed
> to dry and the 'black powder' was given to a friend (a chemistry prof at the
> university).
>
> 'Somewhere' in a box down in the basement, I still have a 'chunk' of what I
> was told was some of the recovered silver.
>
> I am not sure if, or what, further processing was done to the extracted black
> powder but I was told it was heated in a
> muffle furnace
>
>
> That 'might' be a means of curing or at least reducing possible silver
> contamination the sewage system.
>
>
> Ken
>
> On 2012-10-10, at 12:30 PM, John Bower <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> I too am on a septic system, and I asked a lot of questions, and thought
>> about this a lot. Here's what I've decided to do:
>>
>> I pour the used stop bath into the used developer, which yields a relatively
>> neutral pH. Then I pour it all down the drain. In general, it seems no worse
>> than many household chemicals that people use, and really isn't that much
>> volume.
>>
>> I'm more worried about the silver in the spent fixer "poisoning" the
>> bacteria in the septic tank. So, I made an outdoor evaporation tray to put
>> it in. It consists of a wood frame with a large darkroom tray (mounted
>> level), and a hinged cover to keep rain out. There's a screen stapled around
>> the perimeter to keep critters out. I just pour the spent fixer into the
>> tray and the liquid (mostly water) evaporates after a while, leaving some
>> crud on the bottom of the tray.
>>
>> I've been doing this for 10 years and I have my septic tank pumped out every
>> three years (a good idea in any case, as preventive medicine) and each time
>> it's pumped out I ask the guy if it seems "healthy." I don't know if he can
>> tell healthy from unhealthy, but he's always said it seems just fine.
>>
>> Sooner or later, I will need to do something about the silver-laden residue
>> in the evaporation tray. My local recycling center will take spent fixer,
>> but they charge more than the cost of new fixer. So, in another 10 years, I
>> will mix the residue into some spent fixer, take it to them, and pay them
>> for a gallon's worth. If they pass it on to a reprocessor who recovers the
>> silver, they will get a good deal because there should be a decent amount of
>> silver in it by then.
>> --
>> John Bower, an Indiana Artisan
>> http://www.studioindiana.com/
>>
>>
>>
>> On Oct 10, 2012, at 1:34 PM, shannon Stoney wrote:
>>
>>> I just moved my darkroom to rural TN this summer and now it's ready to go.
>>> But I'm trying to figure out how to dispose of used developer and fixer. I
>>> have a septic system, and the little bit of research I've done today
>>> indicates that I shouldn't just put it into the septic system (according to
>>> Kodak). I just called the Solid Waste people here in Putnam County, and
>>> they are going to look into it for me, but they didn't really know what I
>>> was talking about and I have the feeling they are going to say, "We can't
>>> deal with this." So what would be another option?
>>>
>>> --
>>> shannon============================================================================================================To
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>>
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