can i throw spent dd-x down the drain?

is it safe to toss my photo chemicals down the drain? at the most i develop twice a week if that, sometimes not for a month.

i have been saving the used dd-x in old vodka bottles. i honestly feel like its over kill, i thought i had to take them to a toxic waste dump or something?..anyways, i probably sound like a nut confessing this.
but want some advice on what to do with the insane amount of old chems i have sitting in bottles

depends on your countries regulations on disposal of chemicals but most most of us do I think.

RobC said:

depends on your countries regulations on disposal of chemicals

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YES !

its best to ask where you live what you should do.
your local should have a local hazmat household waste pick up
where you can drop off a bucket of chemicals ...

RobC said:

but most most of us do I think

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this is true, and quite unfortunate

I only started developing my own film a couple months ago but I've been saving my chemicals to drop off at the hazardous waste depot. I recently contacted our municipality's water treatment department and asked about the safety of dumping the chemicals. I provided them with the Ilford fact sheets as well as the dilution rates and quantities I'd be dumping in a single session. One of their scientists reviewed the info and recommended the chemicals be treated as hazardous waste, citing the protection of the environment as well as the safety of their workers. It didn't quite sound like a hard and fast rule, mind you, but I personally feel better complying. You might want to check with your municipality.

Here is some useful information:

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/corp/environment/kes/pubs/pdfs/j300.pdf

The gist of it is you can safely discard your chemicals into a sewer system, except for fixer. You must remove the silver from it before discarding. Disposing of large amounts of photo chemicals into a private septic system will damage it. Selenium toner must be treated as hazardous waste and should not be put down the drain under any circumstances.

photog.ed


yes, j300 is quoted often, but ...
kodak revised their official stance a few years later.

AK-3 March 2005

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professional/support/techPubs/ak3/ak3.pdf

page 7:

• Properly dispose of photographic processing chemicals in accordance with local sewer discharge regulations.
Kodak does not recommend the use of septic systems for disposal of photographic processing chemicals •

its best to figure out what local regualtions are ...

juice mcleod: -thanks!

john

Thanks for that information, John.

p.s. I just looked at your website and think the experimental stuff you're doing is really interesting.

thanks for the visit !
and thanks for being conscientious about your photo chemicals
a lot of people don't go that extra step ...

Yoyoma said:

[...] in old vodka bottles [...] take them to a toxic waste dump [...] insane amount [...] in bottles

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trouble waiting to happen. even if everyone visiting your household knows of your dangerous habits--but what about neighbours investigating a water leak? property superintendent? knock on wood, firefighters?--once you take the bottles out on the street, the risk of accidental ingestion will soar

I'm curious about where the huge quantity of old vodka bottles came from.

Follow your local regulations to the letter, even if they are wrong (chemically speaking). This is simply because not to do so may result in very large fines, imprisonment, a possible local reputation as a baby-poisoner and all sorts of other hysterical weird stuff.

Fixer contains silver compounds that are bactericidal to some extent, hence the possibility of damaging a septic-tank etc. which work by bacteria disposing of the waste in the system. Most of the used fixer is water, so if you can work out a safe way (for passing thirsty animals) of letting that evaporate, your storage problem would be reduced.

Selenium toner can be filtered and replenished for years, there is no need to dispose of it every session.