The Puffer Forum

So, I was testing my water for ammonia, nitrate, etc. for the first time yesterday when I realized that I didn't know what to do with my chemical water after I was done. As you know, some of those chemicals are corrosive, and I'm afraid to dump it down the drain and ruin my pipes. I'm on a municipal sewer hookup with good filtration, so once it gets out of my house I'm not worried about the consequences.
I also feel bad putting the chem waste in the garbage, because ultimately it goes into the Johnston Landfill then leaches into the soil. The entire state of RI is one big watershed, so anything we put into the soil ends up in our ponds, rivers, and then Narragansett Bay.

I really don't want to add to the pollution in the state, but at the same time I'd like to keep my fish healthy.
What do *YOU* do with your testing waste?

well i have read that the chemicals from the liquid testing kits can create a poison gas if mixed incorrectly (i think it was the ammonia chemical with something else but i don't remember ill have to go look that one up) so i would think dumping them in the drain would be all around a bad thing also people who have an ro/di unit have waste water they have to deal with so i would find someone that owns one (not me) and see where they take it

To be honest, I've never even considered it, I just dump it down the drain.

I'd be interested in what the companies who make the tests suggest to do with it.

I never thought about it either. I always thew it down the sink then rinsed out the tubes.

toxic gases... oh how lovely! </sarcasm> I found out from my BF that his town does hazardous materials pickup days, so I was just going to toss all my chems in a glass bottle, dilute, and put it out with the box of old paint. Guess I can't do that anymore without a ventilator hood. Looks like it's gonna have to go down the toilet until I can figure out a better solution.

Myaj, I know that all the SERA tests just say to dump it in the garbage... but that just doesn't sound right to me. :-\

Maybe I'm over thinking this, but corrosive chemicals just don't sound like the kind of thing that should go down a residential drain pipe, either!
Have any of you long-time / prolific fishkeepers here ever had a problem with your pipes caused by dumping chemicals down them?

I admit mine go down the camode.

I've actually splashed the contents of the test tube on my hands, the plastic hood of my tank, the couch, the carpet, etc (you get the idea here, shake shake shake and whoops drops fly everywhere, my one cap doesn't fit tight).

Nothing, even my skin, has ever been burned or corroded. So I would think if the couple of drops are so dilluted in that little bit of water in the test tube, by the time you dump them down the sink with running water (or in the toilet) there's little damage they can do to your pipes.

What it does to the environment, that I couldn't begin to guess at.

Now, on the other hand, I would never want to drip a drop of any of those liquid tests right out of the bottle onto my hand... I'd be a bit worried about that!

Myaj wrote: Now, on the other hand, I would never want to drip a drop of any of those liquid tests right out of the bottle onto my hand... I'd be a bit worried about that!

I've done that, I missed the test tube and the drop leaked down the bottle onto my hand, did't do anything to my hand. I actually done that so many times I probaly done it with every bottle.
And once I sneezed and got some on my shirt. It just left a nice little round stain but never made a hole in the shirt.

I know one of the tests, I can't recall which one, contains sodium nitroprusside. As this breaks down it forms three compounds one being sodium cyanide that when mixed with he wrong stuff forms hydrogen cyanide gas, I can't remember the exact details though, there's a whole cascade of events. The amount that would be formed off of a few diluted drops mixed together would be harmless as it would dissipate rather quickly, if any reaction occurred at all. Sodium Nitroprusside is used as a medication also for treating very high blood pressures, we have been dumping it down the sink mixed with other stuff for years and never had a problem.

So, on that lovely note, I just dump my water in the toilet after a test......

I run the water and dump em in the drain.

Sink. I figure, the corrosiveness is no different from a dose of Drain-O, albeit a bit diluted.

I have spilled the tests before, and they never hurt my skin - not even when I stepped on a broken test tube lying in a puddle of the stuff. However, I did lose a small patch of fabric out of my pants when I spilled a single drop on them.

I just dilute with water when I pour down the drain. Honestly the 5-ish drops of chemical are nothing compared to some of the harsh chemicals that get tossed in some labs. I presume they would have to throw a huge label that said "DO NOT FLUSH" if they didn't want it going down the drain.

But I definitely understand your concern!

If you're really worried you could probably do something similar to what they do to "destroy" prescription drugs, put some kitty litter in a plastic bag (ziploc..) and poor the liquid in that. I know they do that for drugs because you can't get the drugs out and take them, but it may be a way to keep it out of the water system too (otherwise they would probably just flush them). I'm not sure exactly but that might be the more enviromentally friendly way to keep it out of the water table.