That's right. The cover is about 18" above the tray. A "miniature screen porch" is just what it looks like.
-- John Bower, an Indiana Artisan http://www.studioindiana.com/ On Oct 10, 2012, at 3:07 PM, shannon Stoney wrote:
That's a good idea about the evaporation thing. But, how does it evaporate if there is a cover on it? I think what you're saying is that there is a space between the tray and the cover, so that it's kind of like a screen porch with a roof on it. Is that right?On Oct 10, 2012, at 1:30 PM, John Bower 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 unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there.===================================================================== ======================================== To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your account (the same e-mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there.====================================================================== ======================================To unsubscribe from this list, go to www.freelists.org and logon to your account (the same e- mail address and password you set-up when you subscribed,) and unsubscribe from there.
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