Dumping saltwater down the drain

[GreshamH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9299668#post9299668 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by montanabay
but those same SF facilities you cite use THOUSANDS of gallons of sodium hypochlorite and sodium bisulfate to treat that "drinkable water".

So along that same line of thinking, since the power plants produce a ton of emmisions, I'm in the clear to produce minor amounts. It all adds up, no matter the source. You can't point at an abuser and cite them as a reason it's OK to do something.

Being there are an estimated million reefers in the US. You still thinks it's Kosher for everyone to bleach every water change with a cup of bleach You don't see any harm it that?

 

[fishnfst]

There was something here on the net from I think University of Wisconsins Cichlid Lab.. WHere they tested different concentrations of bleach against things like Ich and other common aquarium bacteria.. The concentration for it to be effective was somewhere around 25% if memory serves me correctly for 99 percent effectiveness... A teaspoonful in 25g of water wouldn't be enough I don't think...

 

[darcitananda]

I 100% agree with your points Gresham.

Okay, look how easily you could build a solar still, and then imagine what you could do with that waste water, even if you don't want to drink it, you could water your houseplants with it, or even use it to mix new saltwater from.

http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/sstill.htm

 

[Natterjak]

Is adding bleach to your waste water that bad? As I understand it, bleach ends up breaking down into NaCl, H20 and O2. Hospitals and laboratories use bleach all the time for the neutralization of biologicals that goes to the sewage system.

I would think an aquarist putting a cup of bleach in 20g of water probably isn't going to do a whole lot. That said, I think you'd probably need a 10% concentration of household bleach (which is 6% sodium hypochlorite) to kill most things. If you do add 10% bleach to waste water, make sure to chase it with plenty of fresh water when you dump it to properly dilute the bleach.

 

[montanabay]

Gresham, point taken, but it is obvious we are preaching to the quire in our discussion with each other. I personally use 7th Generation cleaning products for all my home cleaning and I actually dump my water in the middle of our yard (no ill effects of the salt yet!). My fear is the people that aren’t aware of the issues of just dumping water, both down the storm or with their waste. I’m guessing that 95% of people out there use Comet to clean their toilets, so to getting them to add some to their waste water before they dump it or while they are cleaning their toilet or bathtub is a justified cost/benefit solution in my view than just dumping the raw water un-checked.

Darcitananda, maybe we should look into a water recycling co-op on a BAR regional scale...could be a fun little project that could extend to other waste issues related to our hobby, like the 80% waste water from RO/DI units that is needlessly going down the drain to be treated with all that bleach!!!

Cheers,

Josh

 

[darcitananda]

actually, it's the production of bleach which is especially bad, and causes large amounts of dioxin (a known carcinogen) to be introduced (usually directly ) into our waterways.

 

[montanabay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9300767#post9300767 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Natterjak
Is adding bleach to your waste water that bad? As I understand it, bleach ends up breaking down into NaCl, H20 and O2. Hospitals and laboratories use bleach all the time for the neutralization of biologicals that goes to the sewage system.

from: http://leas.ca/BLEACH.htm

Bleach in the environment

Bleach itself breaks down mainly into salt, oxygen and water when it is released into the environment, but small amounts of AOX, or “adsorbable organic halides,” are also released. They are known to be toxic to shellfish and other marine and aquatic organisms. The Nordic Ministers Conference, made up of environmental ministers from Norway, Sweden and other Nordic countries, lists bleach as one of a number of substances considered dangerous to the environment.
Scorecard, the hazards ranking system developed by Environmental Defense in the U.S., ranks bleach as a high risk environmentally and a slight to moderate risk in the workplace.

 

[montanabay]

I argue for the use of it in these small amounts because it is the most effective and assessable means to educate the general public to be pro-active in preventing the spread of invasive organisms in aquatic ecosystems.

Like Gresham pointed out, scale in pollution does not justify this argument BUT the environmental cost/benefit of introducing an invasive would outweigh the small amount of bleach used by individuals to clean aquarium water.

 

[Vincerama2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9291337#post9291337 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jedininja
I've been dumping down the toilet for years.

Heh heh ....

V

PS. Yes, I AM a simpleton, thank you!

 

[Vincerama2]

If you are really gung ho about it, and you have some space, you could make an evaporation pond, of sorts.

When I went to Burningman, we built showers over a shallow (but large) wooden pan that we lined with black plastic. The sun would evaporate the water and leave the disgusting residue, which we just rolled up in the plastic when we left, then threw it in a garbage can when we got home. Yes, it was gross.

With saltwater, I'm sure you could just leave the 5 gallon bucket outside and it would evaporate. Or if you poured it on a hot driveway it would probably disappear before it got in a storm drain (maybe, maybe not). No that it's much different from washing your car with soap, or salting roads in the winter.

V

 

[lego]

My solution is to throw all macro algae, detritus, and water into the compost pile outside. It doesn't go out to the ocean, and it gets turned into fertilizer / soil after a couple months.

 

[Vincerama2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9304351#post9304351 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lego
My solution is to throw all macro algae, detritus, and water into the compost pile outside. It doesn't go out to the ocean, and it gets turned into fertilizer / soil after a couple months.

For stuff like macros (mostly caulerpa and chaeto) I would pull it and either give it to a friend with algae loving fish, or I'd rinse it and put it in my worm compost bin.

V

 

[JTEAGUE]

I water my roses with SW and they look beautiful.

 

[crazzyreefer]

Vince I will let you convince my wife that we another area of the house that smells like a tide pool... 10-1 odds she wont go for your idea.

 

[GreshamH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9300997#post9300997 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by montanabay
I argue for the use of it in these small amounts because it is the most effective and assessable means to educate the general public to be pro-active in preventing the spread of invasive organisms in aquatic ecosystems.

Like Gresham pointed out, scale in pollution does not justify this argument BUT the environmental cost/benefit of introducing an invasive would outweigh the small amount of bleach used by individuals to clean aquarium water.

The big guys say freeze it

http://www.usc.edu/org/seagrant/caulerpa/index.html

 

[montanabay]

I'm going to need a bigger freezer...

But at least I'll finally be able to make those 5gal pina coladas I've always wanted to try

Can a standard freezer get cold enough to freeze salt water? It's freezing point is a bit lower the freshwater.

Experiment!

Cheers,

Josh

 

[GreshamH]

Yah, it'll displaced the salt into a really brine solution and freeze the rest. I've done many freeze tests with a few of our products, of which at least one is normal salinity. They definitly had more then 80% locked up in ice after two days in the freezer. Macro will freeze no problem with out any media present. I've froze a gracilaria shipment with just ice pack contact in a styro shipping box. The protective wrap I used got displaced and allowed the ice pack to sit on the macro bag while in transit. The person I shipped to report "crunchy cold" gracilaria

 

[Vincerama2]

What if your toilet has that blue stuff in it anyway. So you dump it into the toilet and the blue stuff (chlorine bleach and blue dye?) kills it?

Or are we arguing against blue toilet stuff too?

What about a few spoons of "simple green?"


V

 

[GreshamH]

Yes, the blue stuff is bad for the environment as well

 

[Vincerama2]

Can you make the water soooo salty that the caulerpa cells die?

Is there a way to filter out the cells? (I dunno, like pour it though a bucket of sand or something. Or pump it through an old water filter?

Just tossing ideas out there!

I still like evaporating it, like in a black painted kids pool...

V