Waste water from wet tumbling

[High Plains Drifter]

Not sure what toxic materials you think are in the small amount of waste water from fired case tumbling, but my hat's off to you for raising the question. Guess it depends mostly on how much waste water we're talking about. When I was involved with the mfg. of printed circuit boards, we had to re-cycle the waste water from washing those boards that went thru the flux/soldering process. Of course, we used about 250gal. of water each day, which was sent thru a media separator and collected in them. The separators were then sent for metal recovery centers about once every 6 months or so.

How much do you plan to tumble?

I de-cap before I tumble so the spent primers are in a box that goes to the metal recycle company in my area, with bad or throw away brass @.$.83/lb (cartridge brass does not bring top recycle price). As for the waste water, there will be mostly carbon, nitrate residue, and very fine particles of brass. I would have to see it tested for lead, but since the bullets I use are completely cover with copper, I don't think there will be any. Might be good to know though.

 

[hdwhit]

bds wrote:
Since some THR members/guests reading this thread may have private wells and septic systems, my response was more general, all inclusive guidance.

Then you should have clarified who you were addressing rather than categorizing people who had followed local ordinances as not operting within the spirit of this web site.

In fact, the city I live in wants certain household hazardous waste disposed through the sewer system because that'w where they have to equipment and technology to remove even tiny amounts of lead from the waste stream.

In point of fact, anyone creating an "evaporative" disposition system as described by other posters would be cited by the city I live in for releasing lead into the atmosphere. Check local ordinances and don't rely on someone in Texas or Kansas telling you what the law should be in Calfrornia or New York.

 

[LiveLife]

Keep this in mind ... people from all walks of life read online forums. It's not always the "facts" that matter but the "perception" that often prevail.

Chances are oils/solvents/chemicals washed from the surfaces of roads into the storm drain and household/garden chemicals around the house washed into the ground far exceed in toxicity what wet tumblers put down the drain. But the public sentiment, especially if fueled by media frenzy, may not care about the public roads or their household/garden chemicals going into the ground. I mean, how many millions of gallons of Round Up (Glyphosate), other herbicides and pesticides have we used over the past decades? Quite a bit and more and more water tables are showing rising concentration of Glyphosate among other chemicals.

As "High Road" reloaders, we can demonstrate we are responsible stewards of the environment while in pursuit of our hobby/passion. To increase health and safety of our sport, there is growth in use of fully encapsulated lead bullets with copper plating and Hi-Tek/powder coating to reduced lead exposure to shooters and reduce lead particle build up in our equipment.

Instead of saying "We just pour it down the drain", if we say "We take steps to prevent/reduce potentially harmful substances from entering the environment", we are likely to get greater support from the general public. And isn't that why we are all here on the "High Road" forum - to be reloaders and handloaders of higher standards and virtue?

I have enjoyed my hobby/passion of shooting and reloading over the decades and want my children/grandchildren to enjoy the same sport which has created many happy family memories and good times with friends/neighbors/coworkers. I consider reloading & handloading a great American pastime that is essentially fully recyclable - bullets, brass and even spent primers are recycled as bulk metal and if we keep the consumables as clean as possible (Like non-toxic primers and IMR's new "greener" Target, Red, Green, Unequal and Blue powders), heck even tree huggers may want to enjoy our sport. Believe me, over the past decades, I have converted many tree-hugging Democrats to gun-totting, CCW permit carrying Second Amendment supporters who actually voted for Trump/Pence in support of viable future of Second Amendment as "Rights Issue" of this Republic.

This is my 7th year on THR and over the years, with help from other THR members, we have busted many reloading myths and reached factual/objective conclusions and perhaps it's time, in light of justice Neil Gorsuch being confirmed to the Supreme Court, for THR to be a brighter beacon in the online gun forum reloading & handloading community.

 

[jmorris]

bds wrote:
Since some THR members/guests reading this thread may have private wells and septic systems, my response was more general, all inclusive guidance.

I have a gravity system at the farm, only thing that goes into the tank is from the toilet. Sinks, tub, shower and washer or "grey water" runs out on the ground.

At home I have an aerobic system and everything goes into the tanks the output from them is pumped onto the yard.

I have never dumped wet tumbling water down any drain.