Saving water in the Darkroom

[removed account4]

perma wash recommends 5 minute wash for archival prints, 2 mins for films and a friend told me 1 min or even 30 seconds for rc ..
the only way wash film and paper prints is through the fixer traveling from high concentration ( film / prints ) to low concentration ( water )
there really is no magic. you don't need huge water exchanges, but you need a good soak and to shuffling / have space between prints .. people often times
stack things on top of each other and water doesn't get a chance to get to where it needs to go .. its like a game, if you introduce anything into your wash you have to start over..

 

[MattKing]

I use two trays, one above the other, and with the top tray (through small holes at the end) emptying into the bottom tray.
Once the trays are full, the flow into the top tray is just a gentle dribble.
The bottom tray does most of the washing. The top tray is where it is finished off.

 

[gone]

Want to save water? Legislate those stupid bitcoin manufacturers out of business. Totally, totally irresponsible and idiotic.

My water bills did indeed go up, but that's because I was ignorant of how to properly wash FB papers. I was using WAY too much water.
Now I use a wash agent and Ilford's wash recommendations. 5 min wash in running water, 10 minutes of agitation in the wash aid, and a 5 minute fresh water wash.
https://www.ilfordphoto.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Reducing-Wash-Water.pdf

I'm only concerned about any of this because I live in Az. Once I get moved back to Mississippi, I won't give a hoot. Ms has lots of water. You can go down 30 feet and usually hit some clean, Artesian water.

ALL water issues are local. Not everyone has to concern themselves over this. The real concern should be about cleaning up the bad water, and keeping pollutants from going into the ground water. It's the large industries that are wasting and polluting water, all w/ a friendly nod from the toxic water enforcement agencies.

 

[Vaughn]

Don't waste water and your water bill will be much lower.

Waste = using water you don't need to use.

One way -- save all your wash water and use it to flush your toilet.

 

[peter k.]

One way -- save all your wash water and use it to flush your toilet.

Yep, can get plenty of that when you do arista E-6 kit development.. 14 washes for the two developers, and then we go ilford wash cycle for the Blix.
That's a lot of water, so a question... can you save it and use it again.
They must do that at the labs and somehow keep track of how contaminated it gets before they dump it.

 

[MattKing]

One way -- save all your wash water and use it to flush your toilet.

Even more useful for us older photogs.