Pollution Prevention and Treatment Alternatives for Silver-Bearing Effluents - With Special Emphasis on Photoprocessing

.................................................................................................................................. vii Executive Summary ......................................................................................................... v i i 1.0 Regulatory Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2.0 Overview............................................................................................................................. 3 2.1 Silver and Its Uses...................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 Photographic Process ................................................................................................................... 3 2.3 Characterization of Industry ......................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Fate In The Environment.. ............................................................................................................ 5 2.5 Economic Silver Cycle .................................................................................................................. 6 3.0 Technologies for Silver Recovery....................................................................................... 9 3.1 Metallic Replacement.................................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Electrolytic ................................................................................................................................. 12 3.3 Precipitation ............................................................................................................................... 13 3.4 Ion Exchange .............................................................................................................................. 17 3.5 Reverse Osmosis ........................................................................................................................ 19 3.6 Evaporation/Distillation ............................................................................................................ 20 4.0 Ecology’s Sampling Program........................................................................................... 21 4.1 Results and Discussion................................................................................................................ 22 5.0 Pollution Prevention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 6.0 Cost Information ............................................................................................................. 33 6.1 Cost Assumptions........................................................................................................................ 33 6.2 Dental Office .............................................................................................................................. 33 6.3 Medical Clinic.. ......................................................................................................................... 34 6.4 Washless Minilab ........................................................................................................................ 34 6.5 Professional Laboratory ............................................................................................................. 34 Pollution Prevention and Treatment Alternatives for Page iii Silver-bearing Effluents with Special Emphasis on Photoprocessing January 1997 6.6 Lithographer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....... 35 7.0 Discussion of Source Control Programs .......................................................................... 37 7.1 City of Colorado Springs ............................................................................................................ 37 7.2 City of Palo Alto ......................................................................................................................... 38 7.3 The Silver Coalition.. .................................................................................................................. 39 7.4 Thurston County, Olympia, Washington...................................................................................... 40 7.5 EPA Hazardous Waste Treatment Standards.. ............................................................................. 41 8.0 Findings and Conclusions ................................................................................................ 43 8.1 Technical Process Issues.. ........................................................................................................... 43 8.2 Operational and Maintenance Issues .......................................................................................... 44 8.3 Case Studies ............................................................................................................................... 45 8.4 Sampling and Analytical Issues ................................................................................................... 46 8.5 Pollution Prevention Issues........................................................................................................ 48 8.6 Cost Issues .................................................................................................................................. 48 8.7 Regulatory Issues.. ...................................................................................................................... 48 9.0 Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 10.0 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 11.0 Appendix 1 Sampling Locations and Process Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 12.0 Appendix 2 Data Tables ................................................................................................. 65 Table 1. Kodak Analytical Results.. .................................................................................................... 65 Table 2. Ecology Analytical Results.. ................................................................................................. 66 Table 3. Laboratory Data Comparisons.. .......................................................................................... 67 13.0 Appendix 3 Quality Assurance Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Page iv Pollution Prevention and Treatment Alternatives for January 1997 Silver-Bearing Effluents with Special Emphasis on Photoprocessing