Toxic chemicals and waste water treatment

Hi all,

Does anybody know if waste water treatment facilities filter out toxic
chemicals?
I know of a lot of people who clean paint brushes, rollers, roller pans,
etc.. in their laundry tubs, not to mention other things. This must
introduce a lot of toxic chemicals into the water system. Does anybody know
anything about this?

TIA,

Lurch

The short answer is yes, wastewater treatement plants
treat influent to them to USEPA standards. Filter is not the corect
word since filtering is not always involved.


--


Henry Boyter, Jr., PhD
Director of EH&S Services
[Only registered users see links. ]
Institute of Textile Technology (ITT)
NCSU College of Textiles
Box 8301
Raleigh, NC 27695


The opinions expressed are those of Dr. Boyter
and are not necessarily those of ITT. The opinions
of Dr. Boyter are provided for informational
purposes only and should not be used as advice.
No warranty or expression of professionalism is implied.


"Ride, boldly ride,"
The shade replied,--
"If you seek for Eldorado!"

************************************************** **



"Charlie Johnson" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote in message
news:WVSxb.25342$[Only registered users see links. ].atl.eart hlink.net...
know

"Charlie Johnson" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote in message news:<WVSxb.25342$[Only registered users see links. ].atl.ear thlink.net>...

My information is 20 years old, but still valid,
AFAIK.

There's a biological component to wastewater treatment,
slime containing microorganisms and plants that feed on
the nutrients in the "water" in what's called
"secondary treatment", or pond critters (plants and
animals) that do the same in a "polishing pond"
("tertiary treatment", maximum removal of organics before
discharge in both cases).

Treatment plants can tolerate some level of
toxic chemicals, especially if there is a large volume of
"normal" sewage to dilute them. When there is a die-off
of the microorganisms that cripples the plant, some sleuthing
is done, the perp identified, and heavy fines laid down by
the appropriate agency or court. At some level, USEPA, state,
or local government, or all, there are rules prohibiting the
discharge of toxic effluents into _public_ waste treatment
facilities. People who generate toxic wastes either treat
it themselves (as in say paper mill effluents) or pay someone
else to do the job.

In this context, toxic wastes are "filtered" out of the
regular treatment system. This is of course the worst of
the stuff that could be dumped down the drain. Households
are constantly discarding cleaning products, and medications
(or their metabolites) into the drains. I don't know what
effect this has on the treatment plant or the waters below
the point of discharge (perhaps whales beach themselves a
day or two after Merck or someone flushes one of their
batch processing vats)


Mark ("Primary treatment" is removal of tampons, condoms,
cig butts, and whatever fecal material settles
out under quiescent conditions after the lift-
pumps puree the floaters knocking out all gases)

Waste water is filtered to get rid of solid wastes.The sediment is
allowed to settle and treated with a hydroxid to neutralize the
acids.
Mainly uric acid.After this is done it is treated with a diluted
solution of k2Cr2O7.The Water components ar oxidized into water.
When this is done the water is then
boiled down some and distilled(of about 1/3 the wieght.The water is
treated with
a hydroxide again and boiled down another 1/3 and remainder water
vapour is distilled.
The remaining 1/3 has a copius quantity of K2CrO4 obtained from
boiling this solution.The waste left over is about 20% of this
solution.The K2CrO4 has to be washed a few times and recrystalized


Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
[Only registered users see links. ]