Re: Watering the garden with darkroom water

In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Jean-David Beyer <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
> And dumping all that iron is better than dumping the silver?
>
> I investigated those cartridges once, but it turned out that I do not
> dump enough fixer, and I dump it before the silver level is high enough
> to be efficient, so that the shipping, refining, and analysis costs were
> more than the value of the silver, so I would be losing money doing it.

Definately not a perfect choice, but like I said landfills are designed
for worse. Care to wager how much petroleum/ oily rags and solvents
idiot homeowners throw in the regular trash, the best choice might be to
contact the landfill and ask if they have a program where you can deliver
the cartridge,....but as you state to justify a cartridge you have to do alot
of printing,....more than I do. As Richard stated wash water is a non issue
unless you processing what tons of paper?

--
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Gregory W. Blank

Gregory W. Blank wrote:
> In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Jean-David Beyer <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
>
>>And dumping all that iron is better than dumping the silver?
>>
>>I investigated those cartridges once, but it turned out that I do not
>>dump enough fixer, and I dump it before the silver level is high enough
>>to be efficient, so that the shipping, refining, and analysis costs were
>>more than the value of the silver, so I would be losing money doing it.
>
>
> Definately not a perfect choice, but like I said landfills are designed
> for worse. Care to wager how much petroleum/ oily rags and solvents
> idiot homeowners throw in the regular trash, the best choice might be to
> contact the landfill and ask if they have a program where you can deliver
> the cartridge,....but as you state to justify a cartridge you have to do alot
> of printing,....more than I do. As Richard stated wash water is a non issue
> unless you processing what tons of paper?
>

That is not where the iron goes. In those cartriges, water and silver
ions (to oversimplify) go into the cartrige, and water and iron comes
out. That iron goes down the drain. And it is pretty concentrated and
can clog things up. I do not know if iron is considered a heavy metal or
not (some people are pretty free with that insult), but it is not
inconceivable that it is just as bad for the environment in large doses
as silver might be in large doses.

Ideally, when you are done with a cartrige, the iron has been entirely
replaced by the silver, and the iron has gone down the drain instead of
the silver.

--
.~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
/V\ Registered Machine 73926.
/( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
^^-^^ 10:15am up 22 days, 12:47, 2 users, load average: 2.18, 2.12, 2.14

"Jean-David Beyer" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Gregory W. Blank wrote:
> > In article <(E-Mail Removed)>, Jean-David Beyer
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
> >
> >>And dumping all that iron is better than dumping the silver?
> >>
> >>I investigated those cartridges once, but it turned out that I do not
> >>dump enough fixer, and I dump it before the silver level is high enough
> >>to be efficient, so that the shipping, refining, and analysis costs were
> >>more than the value of the silver, so I would be losing money doing it.
> >
> >
> > Definately not a perfect choice, but like I said landfills are designed
> > for worse. Care to wager how much petroleum/ oily rags and solvents
> > idiot homeowners throw in the regular trash, the best choice might be to
> > contact the landfill and ask if they have a program where you can
deliver
> > the cartridge,....but as you state to justify a cartridge you have to do
alot
> > of printing,....more than I do. As Richard stated wash water is a non
issue
> > unless you processing what tons of paper?
> >
>
> That is not where the iron goes. In those cartriges, water and silver
> ions (to oversimplify) go into the cartrige, and water and iron comes
> out. That iron goes down the drain. And it is pretty concentrated and
> can clog things up. I do not know if iron is considered a heavy metal or
> not (some people are pretty free with that insult), but it is not
> inconceivable that it is just as bad for the environment in large doses
> as silver might be in large doses.
>
> Ideally, when you are done with a cartrige, the iron has been entirely
> replaced by the silver, and the iron has gone down the drain instead of
> the silver.
>
> --
> .~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
> /V\ Registered Machine 73926.
> /( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
> ^^-^^ 10:15am up 22 days, 12:47, 2 users, load average: 2.18, 2.12, 2.14
>
>

Iron is required for plant growth and most fertilizers have iron added. If
the pH of the soil in which iron-rich water is dumped is neutral (anything
less than about 7.9 is generally considered by agronomists to be neutral) or
acidic plant will take up the iron with no problem. You will notice the
leaves of plants being deeper richer green.

If the pH is more basic (say 8 or higher) the iron may be bound to ions in
the soil making it more difficult for plants to absorb. They will still do
so, only more slowly. In highly basic soils certain plants develop a
condition called iron chlorosis. The veins of the leaves are green but the
areas between the veins are much more yellow. To cure the problem iron is
added to the soil but in chelated form that plants can absorb in the akaline
conditions.

If you don't continuously pour all the water on a few square inches of
ground it will never be an environmental issue if there are plants around.

Sherman
http://www.dunnamphoto.com