disposal of fixer

Should special care be taken when disposing of fixer? or can it just be dumped down the drain? I have heard it can corrode metal pipes. Any info is helpful.-J

Hey, with the Republicans in the Whitehouse, just dump it down the

drain. No one will give a damn.

You can buy a silver recovery unit for small quantities for about

$35. After you recover the silver, you can safely pour the remaining

liquid down the drain. Porter's carries them for $34.95--called the

Silver Magnet.

I have seen this question asked and answered in many professional

photographic magazines. The answer is a function of your quantity. If

you are processing a rather small quantity of films as a hobby,

diluting them before disposing them down the drains is probably

acceptable. The ratios of these as a percentage of the total effluent

will render them harmless. However, if photography it is a

profession, purchase a device that will remove the silver from the

fixer. I do not believe that in their diluted folm, corrosion of

pipes will be a concern. The whole point in removing the silver from

fixer is that in larger concentrations, metals in the drain water is

a problem. The water district here in Colorado regularly runs tests

to determine if these substances are present and if so, they narrow

down the culprit and levy fines. They do not want the photo

processors taking the east road from their responsibilities of

cleaning up their used photo chemistry.

Contact your local hazardous household waste department.

 

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I live in SF bay area. We can't put it down the drain, as it isn't

removed by sewage treatement plants, and ends up in the bay, and in

the marine life. As a result of hazardous waste in the bay, there are

signs posted at the fishing sites telling you what your limit is to

eat without poisoning yourself. Judging by the looks of the bay water

I won't eat anything!

The silver that is.

 

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Everything else is OK. Most metals are toxic. Probably all are.

What you are REQUIRED to do varies from quite a bit depending on your

locale. Where I live they want you to take UN-mixed chemistry to the

local disposal unit for household waste. For mixed chemistry they

say flush it down the drain with plenty of running water. They don't

differentiate between Pyro, used fixer, stop bath or toner.

 

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Want you want to do is of course up to you. You could contact the

local college or university and see if they have a B&W photo dept.,

contact the person responsible for the lab and see if they have a

silver reclamation program. Then save up your fixer and take it in

every so often. You could also contact the local photo processors

and see what they do, and if they are willing add your expired

effluent to thiers. I've gone both routes.

>>The whole point in removing the silver from fixer

>>is that in larger concentrations, metals in the drain water is a

>>problem

 

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Not at all, its the fact that the silver is highly toxic. Thats the

problem, and the reason why it shouldnt be put down the drain.

Hi all the safest disposal for fixer check out Itronics.com

 

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Bill

I've found a nice resource for photochemical disposal methods.

 

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http://www.rit.edu/~rckpph/faq/18.02.html

 

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-dw-

<p>porters is gone now but the magnets are still being sold<br>

feel free to contact me for further information.</p>