I am building a darkroom in a house that uses a septic tank with leech (leach?) field. I will be doing only printing, no processing. What can people tell me about photo chemistry damaging this system?

-- alan lemire (gallery@alanlemire.com), October 10, 2001

Answers

Opinions vary all over on this one. You should probably read this- http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/environment/kes/educators/septicDispos al.jhtml for starters. IMHO, it all comes down to quantity. A few prints a week isn't likely to bother anything. More than that and you'll want to do some additional research.

-- Conrad Hoffman (choffman@rpa.net), October 10, 2001.

I have a septic system and have had a darkroom in my home for 17 years. Most toxic chemicals are used in such tiny amounts, or break down so quickly, that they are diluted enough by the time they enter the septic system to not cause any harm (either to the septic system or to the environment). The primary exception is silver in fixer. Over time, this will build up in the septic system and the environment. I have purchased a small silver recovery unit to remove the silver from my fixer before disposal.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), October 11, 2001.

I read somewhere, Ed, that a bucket with a good amount of steel wool (read about a 3" ball connected to a dowel) will attract all the silver out of the fixer rendering it safe for disposal. I does take several days but you will find that it is a cheap silver collector.

-- Scott Walton (f64sw@hotmail.com), October 11, 2001.