On Mon, Apr 4, 2011 at 8:58 AM, Mark Shaw <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Dave, >
Thanks for the reply. See below. > this is actually pretty interesting but there is a way to "recycle" the > Arsenic you use. > 1) Use it as rat poison, > 2) Use it as a Weed killer,. > 3) Use it to Preserve Wood In the first two cases ( and directly mentioned in the second) the arsenic has the potential for reentering the ground water. In that case it should be no different than simply storing it in a container as the next batch of water would contain a little more arsenic. In case #1 it could end up in your food supply as some heavy metals (like lead) are consumed by green leafy plants. Urban farmers usually check for lead paint in the soil. In the last case the wood would be preserved though we all know that the arsenic in wood does eventually leach out. I would pick the last as the "best case," especially if you could shelter the wood from rain, though still not ideal. Good feedback, though does it really "manage" the waste or does it simply spread dilute it back into the environment? I have a novel idea but I want to hear some others first! > > I hope that has answered your question Dave. > > Sincerely, > Mark Shaw > > Esperance, Western Australia, Australia > > -----Original Message----- > From: Dave Hajoglou > Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 10:08 PM > To: sustainablelorgbiofuel@sustainablelists.org > Subject: [Biofuel] Hypothetical Waste Management > > To the list, > > I was pondering some facets of well water contaminants. For the > purposes of this discussion, I want to limit the factors that make up > the scenario. First, lets presume that there is nothing malicious > inherent in the problem, nor are there human factors that can be > mitigated. Second, we will presume that the treatment options have > been vetted and are selected for their optimum potential. Third, > Chip, you're responses are limited to under 10,000 words ;) > > The scenario is this: There are naturally occurring chemicals in some > well water that can be harmful to humans. Lets say we are using one > of these wells and we know, as stated above, that the contaminants are > simply a cause of the water coming into contact with high > concentrations of lead or zinc, etc. We have a few possible > alternatives to treat the water like a solar still or through the use > of home made charcoal. In all cases, we will be left with the > pollutants in a more concentrated form. > > In an ideal situation, we would be able to use these byproducts in a > useful way, and that would, of course, depend on what we have left > over. What do we do with this stuff in a non-ideal situation? Lets > presume, for the sake of this discussion, that our water supply is > located in a hard rock region and we have small amounts of arsenic but > enough to warrant concern. If we filter with carbon, we have arsenic > in the carbon, if we distill we're left with arsenic in the bottom of > the still. > > I'm sure the list can come up with grander and better ways to clean > the water, but if we're still left with the arsenic then we need not > discuss the processing (remember, it's presumed to be optimal). So, > what do we do with this arsenic aside from simply not using the water > (which may be the only choice)? > > > This quandary was prompted by some pollution cleanup efforts for old > mines. They plant reeds that consume the mercury from water discharge > but then... what happens to the reeds? Remember though, we are not > discussing mine waste, this is a naturally source of arsenic. > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 > messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
