Darkrooms & Wells

[johndan]

Here's a novice question (ok, several): I'm putting together a b/w darkroom. However, I live in the Adirondacks and our water supply is a spring-fed well in the backyard.

I've found a local university that will take my used developer and fixer, so I'll only have incidental amounts of that going down my drain. Do I need to worry about the toxicity of the stop bath or the wetting agents in my groundwater? I haven't chosen developer and fixer yet, but I'm leaning toward Sprint Systems because they seem more concerned about environmental effects. But if I'm taking my developer and fixer offsite to places that can safely process it, should I pick something else?

I feel paranoid, but anything I pour into the drain is going to go eventually (in much diluted and filtered-by-ground form) in my coffee mug.

Thanks for any advice.

- Johndan

 

[ChrisN]

You can use a plain water bath for stop (at least for film), or as I use, 15gm citric acid per ltire of water. That's pretty harmless (found in many foods). Wetting agent is principally a mild detergent.

 

[MartinP]

You don't mention it but presumably you have some sort of septic-tank system for waste water from the house ? If so, then it should not be feeding the spring which gives your drinking water. It sounds as though the property might need a lot of work after a survey from a hydrological engineer !

Stop bath is useful but not essential for film, though for prints it will be more important - in both cases it is re-usable for a lot of film/paper. I'd suggest using a brand with an indicator dye in that changes colour when the stop-bath is used up, as that will minimise the amount you use. The wetting agent should not be a problem.

For mixing the chemicals it will probably be useful to put the water through a normal household water-filter jug. This depends on the mineral content of your specific water but might be a wise precaution.

 

[Freakscene]

I'm an aquatic biologist and do a lot of work on chemical ecotoxicology.

How deep is your well?

Stop bath is basically vinegar and 100% biodegradable. Wetting agent is less readily biodegradable, but will bind to organic material in soil. I doubt any of either will get to the groundwater.

Marty

 

[Arjay]

You write that you're living in a mountainous area, so it's possible your water might be very hard (If your well is in an area that e.g. consists of limestone). If it is hard, you can see this every day as you boill water for your coffee/tea: You'll have white residue in your kettle.

If that is so, this could affect the efficiency of your developer. I have a similar problem in the Munich metropolitan area. To avoid this problem, I use demineralized water (a) to prepare my developer's storage and working solutions, and (b) for the final rinsing step (with photoflo or something equivalent - this helps to avoid drying streaks & spots).

PS: If you're using a septic tank, you should absolutely avoid disposing of your chemicals into your sewer, as the silver content of your chemical waste might even stop the biological decomposition of waste water inside your septic tank.

 

[sepiareverb]

I run off a drilled well and have a septic tank- our spring (surface type well- as I think you're talking about- I'm in VT, pretty common here) is a backup water source for when the power goes out- it is gravity fed.

I'll agree that developer and fix should go off site- the septic tank won't like them- as should toners if you use them. I let stop and photo-flo go down the drain, but bring everything else to the college where I teach.

I've not found problems beyond too much iron in my water as far as photography work- and that manifested as stains on prints getting sepia toned, never on film or untoned prints.

 

[johndan]

Thanks to everyone for the tips. Yes, we have a septic system so I knew the silver was an issue. But it sounds like if I take the developer and fixer offsite I'll be ok.

I'm not sure of the depth of the well, but it's not surface-level (it's at least deep enough that when our power's out we have no water pressure, even in the basement). We do have it tested routinely to make sure it's safe to drink and haven't had any problems. But it does have a lot of minerals in it, so I'll probably buy purified water for some of the solutions.

Thanks again; I'll be sure to post some images once I get everything together.