Sherry Lutz on tue 11 aug 98
Bob (Wilt), I too am concerned about the environmental dangers lurking in =
our
glaze sinks and the impending EPA checkups we'll all face someday. Other =
than
the old pipe in the sink method of keeping the glaze sludge from going down =
the
drain, do any of you know of any filters that could be attached to the =
plumbing.
It
seems that out glazeroom sink at Washington State had some kind of filter =
right
under the sink that was attached to the drain pipe.
Gavin Stairs on wed 12 aug 98
At 09:32 AM 8/11/98 EDT, Sherry Lutz wrote:
>... I too am concerned about the environmental dangers lurking in our
>glaze sinks and the impending EPA checkups we'll all face someday. Other than
>the old pipe in the sink method of keeping the glaze sludge from going
down the
>drain, do any of you know of any filters that could be attached to the
plumbing.
....
It is possible to fit a filter to the drain, but this has numerous problems.
1. The filter must be fine to capture all the very fine powders in a glaze.
This means that the filter runs slow even when new.
2. Everything that gets filtered out ends up caking the filter, and what
gets filtered out in the case of pottery clay and glaze is clay: i.e., it
is impermeable. So the filter clogs up and won't let the water through.
3. Even if you get by 1 and 2, you are trying to remove a lot of material,
so you need a large catch basin just to hold it.
So a small, in line filter just isn't going to cut it. You will end up
with a small, inline basin plug.
There are practical clay filters, but you wouldn't want one in your studio.
They generally have pumps to press/suck the water/clay slurry through the
filter, and a rotating filter with a scraper to remove clay as it accumulates.
Most practical clay traps are built on the settling basin principle. You
need enough volume in an overflow tank to permit the water flowing in to
become still for long enough to let the clay/glaze to settle out. The
addition of flocculants can help. On a large scale, the addition of
certain plants, like water hyacinths can also help. This is for an
external water treatment lagoon. Not exactly standard equipment in a
pottery studio.
In a practical studio setting, what you need is one or more large buckets
with overflow pipes arranged so that the inflow has a chance to settle out
before overflowing into the next bucket. The inflow comes from your dump
sink: put the first bucket under the sink where the trap used to be, and
arrange a down pipe to carry the flow well under the overflow level.
Ideally, you should have a flow deflector to avoid directing the incoming
stream either into the sludge at the bottom, or into the overflow. Do the
same with the overflow pipe into a second bucket, if you have room. The
final overflow goes to the drain, or to a dump bucket. There have been a
number of posts on this list about plans for such arrangements. You need
enough volume/buckets so that the water coming out the last pipe is clear.
When the first bucket gets full, pull it out, and replace it with the next
one, and so on. What you do with the sludge in the bucket is between you
and your refuse heap. There have been numerous posts on the list about the
use and non-use of recycled glazes.
If you discover a better way, tell us all about it.
Gavin
Jean Stephenson on wed 12 aug 98
I use a dental trap. It looks like a plastic bucket with piece of pvc pipe
attached to the drain. Originally it was used to trap dental plaster, etc.
from going down the drain and mucking up the plumbing. You do have to empty
the bucket now and again, but that you can recycle [l.e. shop glazes] or
take to a hazardous waste pick-up.
-----Original Message-----
From: Sherry Lutz
To: CLAYART@LSV.UKY.EDU
Date: Tuesday, August 11, 1998 6:46 AM
Subject: environmental dangers and the EPA
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Bob (Wilt), I too am concerned about the environmental dangers lurking in
our
glaze sinks and the impending EPA checkups we'll all face someday. Other
than
the old pipe in the sink method of keeping the glaze sludge from going down
the
drain, do any of you know of any filters that could be attached to the
plumbing.
It
seems that out glazeroom sink at Washington State had some kind of filter
right
under the sink that was attached to the drain pipe.
Sheilah Bliss on wed 12 aug 98
Hi Smud10 (is that your real name?)
I've put a clay-trap under my sink, but still I've tried to make it so only a
trace of clay or glaze gets into the sink. Everything - tools, hands, brushes
- gets rinsed off in a big water-filled rinse bucket first... one for clay
only, the other for glazes. Over time, clay that settles to the bottom of the
clay bucket gets recycled. Glaze stuff gets the water evaporated off of it,
sediment gets put with other "hazardous" garbage (oil, paint,etc.) for
delivery to the local "hazardous" garbage processing site. When all mud 'n'
stuff's off, then it's off to the final rinse in the sink.
I installed a sediment trap under my sink. Plumbing supply houses sell
standard clay traps, but I liked the sediment trap I found at a local salvage
yard. They said it came from a hospital (eew! ... sounds gooshy, huh!)
Disinfected heartily before installing even though it sat at the salvage yard
for awhile.
It's a cylindrical, gallon+, cast iron canister w/water-tight, rubber gasketed
lid that screws in place, and it has removable baffle-plates inside. (Clay
trap was the same, but didn't have the baffles.) Water from the sink goes
through the inlet at one side, baffles collect sediment, water seperates to
the top, and leaves the canister from the drain outlet near the top. Remove
the top and clean it out periodically. I'm sure some clay particles escape,
but much less than would without it. I try to avoid a real fast flow of water
that might stir up clay in the trap.
I figure (optimistically perhaps?) that my plumbing's getting about the same
amount of clay in it as, say, a house full of muddy kids, or avid gardeners,
neither of which are present at my home to further tax my plumbing.
Hope this was what you were asking for. If it's not a clay/sediment trap
under the sink at Washington State, I love to hear what it is.
Sheilah Bliss
BlissPots@aol.com
Robert Wilt on thu 13 aug 98
Sherry,
We have a "filter" under our sink too - it is basically a bucket-shaped
tank, with the water flowing in and out near the top, so that heavy
stuff can settle into the lower part and not get pulled through the
outlet. There are some screens inside - well, not really screens, but
sheets of metal with round holes drilled into them. The holes are too
big to filter anything. I think the screens help interrupt the water
flow so that the particles don't get sucked straight across to the
outlet.
The filter in our glaze room needs to be emptied every two or three
weeks when the studio is busy. The fuller it gets, the less effective
it is. In our glaze room we actually have a second tank. The second
one needs emptying only twice a year or so. That's at least some
indication of the effectiveness of the first tank.
I would assume that some stuff still gets through, though - smaller
particles that don't settle quickly, and dissolved metallic ions.
The college is helping us explore options for improving our filtration
system. I'll let you know if anything good comes out of that.
bob
>Bob (Wilt), I too am concerned about the environmental dangers lurking in our
>glaze sinks and the impending EPA checkups we'll all face someday. Other than
>the old pipe in the sink method of keeping the glaze sludge from going down the
>drain, do any of you know of any filters that could be attached to the plumbing
>It
>seems that out glazeroom sink at Washington State had some kind of filter right
>under the sink that was attached to the drain pipe.
Joy Holdread on sun 23 aug 98
In a message dated 8/12/98 9:18:20 AM US Mountain Standard Time,
BlissPots@AOL.COM writes:
>
> I've put a clay-trap under my sink, but still I've tried to make it so only
> a
> trace of clay or glaze gets into the sink. Everything - tools, hands,
> brushes
> -- gets rinsed off in a big water-filled rinse bucket first... one for clay
> only, the other for glazes. Over time, clay that settles to the bottom of
> the
> clay bucket gets recycled. Glaze stuff gets the water evaporated off of it,
> sediment gets put with other "hazardous" garbage (oil, paint, etc.) for
> delivery to the local "hazardous" garbage processing site. When all mud 'n'
> stuff's off, then it's off to the final rinse in the sink.
>
>Sheilah Bliss
I want to encourage people to test these scrap glazes for use as nonfood safe
glazes. I've used as is or add Oxides. My studio produces tans & boring
greens that are easily adjusted. Other studios produce blue greens. Almost
any scrap can make a black or rich brown. Go for it. Use the time spend on
the trip to the hazardous waste site to experiment. JOY in Tucson
Sheilah Bliss on wed 26 aug 98
In a message dated 8/23/98 6:22:32 PM, you wrote:
<safe
glazes. I've used as is or add Oxides. My studio produces tans & boring
greens that are easily adjusted. Other studios produce blue greens. Almost
any scrap can make a black or rich brown. Go for it. Use the time spend on
the trip to the hazardous waste site to experiment. JOY in Tucson
>>
That's a really good idea, Joy! It's worth a try. It could only be an
improvement over some of the other glazes I've mixed up :-)
Sheilah Bliss
BlissPots@aol.com
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