Throwing out studio water

Nelly · February 21, 2012

This is my third posting on this forum.

I will be working in a studio where I will not have access directly to water. Thus, as pointed out by Marcia I will have to get creative with my plans for how to work in this situation. I am soooo glad she mentioned the emersion heater. I will look into that tomorrow.

Here is my next question...

What will I do with the water that has been used and I have decanted??

Can the clay water be put on the grass at the back of the house? Does ready made clay contain chemicals that will harm the grass or should I put this directly into the toilet in the house.

I know this sounds crazy but with all the environmental stuff happening right now, I want to make sure I am in keeping with others practice so I do not break laws or cause further damage to the earth.

Any thoughts.

Nelly

Prokopp · February 21, 2012

Throw it on the grass. All my throwing/wash water has been going on my back lawn for four years, and it doesn't hurt a thing.

After all, the clay came from the earth in the first place, so it's all okay.

Putting water with clay in it ( and no matter how clean it looks, there is always some in there) down the toilet will eventually clog your sewer line, and you will have to have it routed.

Besides, in order to put it down the toilet, you would have to carry it in from the garage, and you know what that means...eventually you will spill or drop it, and then you will have clay dust in your house. not much, but some.

Nelly · February 21, 2012

Throw it on the grass. All my throwing/wash water has been going on my back lawn for six years, and it doesn't hurt a thing.

After all, the clay came from the earth in the first place, so it's all okay.

Putting water with clay in it ( and no matter how clean it looks, there is always some in there) down the toilet will eventually clog your sewer line, and you will have to have it routed.

Besides, in order to put it down the toilet, you would have to carry it in from the garage, and you know what that means...eventually you will psill or drop it, and then you will have clay dust in your house. not much, but some.

Thank you so much for this advice. I never thought about that (i.e., toilet drain clogging). It is funny the things we take for granted when we are working in a none private studio. My water then, will go on the grass. I do not need any unnecessary plumbing bills.

Nelly

Mark C. · February 21, 2012

Throw it on the grass. All my throwing/wash water has been going on my back lawn for six years, and it doesn't hurt a thing.

After all, the clay came from the earth in the first place, so it's all okay.

Putting water with clay in it ( and no matter how clean it looks, there is always some in there) down the toilet will eventually clog your sewer line, and you will have to have it routed.

Besides, in order to put it down the toilet, you would have to carry it in from the garage, and you know what that means...eventually you will psill or drop it, and then you will have clay dust in your house. not much, but some.

Thank you so much for this advice. I never thought about that (i.e., toilet drain clogging). It is funny the things we take for granted when we are working in a none private studio. My water then, will go on the grass. I do not need any unnecessary plumbing bills.

Nelly

Grass not toilet for same reasons as above-clay will clog your drains over time.

Mark

minspargal · February 21, 2012

I throw mine out in the grass and the bonus was that my dog no longer got fleas. Throwing it in the toilet, is the same as throwing it down your sink..$$$ plumbing repairs.

TJR · February 21, 2012

I mixed glazes in my backyard once-stoneware glazes. I used the garden hose to wash the rinse water into the lawn. I killed the grass real good. There is a differance between clay and glazes. The chemicals in glaze are not good for your lawn. If you could, I would dump the water on a gravel driveway ,or between the garage and the fence-less obtrusive.

TJR.

Nelly · February 21, 2012

I mixed glazes in my backyard once-stoneware glazes. I used the garden hose to wash the rinse water into the lawn. I killed the grass real good. There is a differance between clay and glazes. The chemicals in glaze are not good for your lawn. If you could, I would dump the water on a gravel driveway ,or between the garage and the fence-less obtrusive.

TJR.

Dear TJR,

After receiving the posts yesterday, I have decided to designate an area (as you said--between the garage and the fence) where there is gravel and this will be where I put my clay water. This way, I will not upset the grass or garden. Thank you for reminding me about glaze though. I never thought about that??? Right now, I am forcing myself to work with only two glazes in the initial stages of my new studio. I am used to access to a variety of glaze in the cooperative where I used to work and having this limited amount will really force me to watch the kiln and the effects I can get with different colorants. So yeah, no glaze on the lawn. GOOD POINT and one I have never even thought about given that I am used to working in a cooperative where such issues were just handled by way of the drain in the studio. Thank you so much for this tip.

Nelly

February 21, 2012

The best setup we've found at the college is a series of settling barrels in which you wash things off. The sink is the last place things get done... and is basically "not used" much. The size of these barrels can be determined by your available space and the volume of work that you do (and how often you want to deal with the actual cleaning of the barrels and water disposal ).

You'll need two "sets" of these. One for the clay washup and one for the glaze washup.

Real "throwing slop" should go into its own barrel and be reclaimed for re-use. No sense throwing out money (useable clay)!

After doing things like throwing, you wash your really dirty hands and tools in the first clay wash barrel. Then you do the second cleaning rinse in the second clay wash barrel. By the time you've done this there is almost nothing left to clean off in the "sink". Multiple times a week put a little clorox bleach into these barrels to keep the bacterial growth down (bleach loses its effectiveness with exposiure of the water surface to the air).

The same idea approach goes for the glaze clean up set of barrels.

The only time you wash anything down the "sink" (or toilet in this case) is the last minimal leftovers ....... which wil be almost nothing. More a "sanitary cleanup" with soap on hands and such. Clay and glaze materials down the drain will plug up sewer lines and septic leach fields quickly.

Then the first clay wash one can be replaced with a new clean water barrel periodically, and these older dirty barrels are left to settle out the heavier particles. The very slightly clay-ey water that accumuulated on top of the sediments can be safely discarded in your garden area. The sediment can either be reclaimed for re-use, or allowed to dry out and taken to the landfill / dump for safe disposal.

Unless you are using colored clays with lots of colorants in them, or a clay body with manganese dioxide (often added for oxidation use) it does not have anything of real environmental concern in it. The second clay wash barrel does not need to be cleaned as often, but you simply do the same thing.

The glaze clean up is treated the same for the first settling aspects.

However, depending on the specific chemistry of the glazes you use, the disposal of the sediments can become a bit more problematic. As a home studio, you are almost for sure WELL under volume of wastes for the EPA regulations on a pollution source to be in effect. But those wastes DO have the potential to cause some pollution depending on how they are disposed.

If all of your glazes conmtain non-toxic materials, then they are basically safe to dispose of in your garden. If all the sediment is is ground feldspar, calcium carbonate, clays, iron oxide and the like... then it is not an issue. However if you use anthing like copper, cobalt, manganese, barium, certain frits, and so on... then that is another story.

You want to REALLY allow this glaze wash bucket to settle until the water on top is pretty darn clear. Decant that off and discard (Note here... if you use soluble ingredients like soda ash...... don't just pour this "clear water" stuff on your lawn or down the drain. Let it evaporate instead of decanting.) Then let rest of the the water air evaporate. After decanting off the water and evaporating, the glaze sediments can be allowed to dry fully and then disposed of.

One technique to do this disposal is to make some VERY thick bisqued bowls and place the dry glaze sediment into them. Then fire the bowls full of junk (VERY SLOWLY) to a temperature that causes the mass to SLIGHTLY sinter into a semi-fused hard mass. Not going to a puddle of molten glass!!!!! This ties up the materials from getting into the environment a bit and makes taking them to a landfill / dump reasonably "acceptable" from a pollution standpoint.

Since you are not "regulated" on this stuff ... this is legal.

Another technique for a non-selling home hobby studio is to take either the fired lumps (from the above idea) or the simple dried lumps of sediment to a "Household Hazardous Waste " day at the local dump / recycling center.

If you asre not selling (being a business) then they will take it.

If you are a business (selling your work) the "household" days are not really a legal way to dispose of this stuff. Technically in this case, you need to dispose of this type of material with a hazardous waste contractor if your dump won't accept it. But since the volume is under the regulatory limits for even a small professional studio... your dump should likely accept it.

Another approach on using up the glaze wastes that accumulate is to settle it out and call it "mystery glaze". Usually they are rather interesting. They are a belnd of everything you use. Just don't use it on the food contact surfaces of functional ware.

Hope these thoughts maybe help.

best,

.......................john

Jeri · February 21, 2012

Another approach on using up the glaze wastes that accumulate is to settle it out and call it "mystery glaze". Usually they are rather interesting. They are a belnd of everything you use. Just don't use it on the food contact surfaces of functional ware.

Hope these thoughts maybe help.

best,

.......................john

Talking about the mystery glaze prompts me to ask another question along the same line only for "mystery clay". I don't mix my own glaze yet, for a few reasons, but, I do reclaim my clays. The studio where I rent space and take classes at use to reclaim all slurry and clay trimmings, mixing them all together and selling it as 'student clay'. I'm not sure why they stopped doing so. I've always wondered just how safe this practice is? I currently have six different clays, each one has a slightly different shrinkage rate, all are ^6 stoneware. I'm trying to figure out which I like best for what type of project I'm working on, and have considered doing the same thing just for the learning experience, but have been a little afraid to try it.

I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts and opinions!

Matt Oz · February 21, 2012

As JBaymore described above, I also Use wash barrels, the only thing I would like to add is I sprinkle some plaster into the water and stir, which quickly settles the particles, and continues to do so for some time.

Diana Ferreira · February 21, 2012

Hi, there.

Get a simple sedimentation system in your studio going. Get 2 large plastic containers, fit one directly underneath your sink outlet. A connector placed near the top of the container connects it to the next container. as dirty water flows into the container, sediment will settle in the bottom of the container. In the next container more sediment will settle. On the other side of the last container, add an outlet that connects to your sewerage. Clean the containers every few weeks (when it starts to smell!) BUT, never ever put any food stuff down this system. It will pong you out of the studio in no time!

To make it easier to work with, put both containers on a dolly so that you can wheel it and work with it easier during cleaning, etc.

Nelly · February 21, 2012

The best setup we've found at the college is a series of settling barrels in which you wash things off. The sink is the last place things get done... and is basically "not used" much. The size of these barrels can be determined by your available space and the volume of work that you do (and how often you want to deal with the actual cleaning of the barrels and water disposal ).

You'll need two "sets" of these. One for the clay washup and one for the glaze washup.

Real "throwing slop" should go into its own barrel and be reclaimed for re-use. No sense throwing out money (useable clay)!

After doing things like throwing, you wash your really dirty hands and tools in the first clay wash barrel. Then you do the second cleaning rinse in the second clay wash barrel. By the time you've done this there is almost nothing left to clean off in the "sink". Multiple times a week put a little clorox bleach into these barrels to keep the bacterial growth down (bleach loses its effectiveness with exposiure of the water surface to the air).

The same idea approach goes for the glaze clean up set of barrels.

The only time you wash anything down the "sink" (or toilet in this case) is the last minimal leftovers ....... which wil be almost nothing. More a "sanitary cleanup" with soap on hands and such. Clay and glaze materials down the drain will plug up sewer lines and septic leach fields quickly.

Then the first clay wash one can be replaced with a new clean water barrel periodically, and these older dirty barrels are left to settle out the heavier particles. The very slightly clay-ey water that accumuulated on top of the sediments can be safely discarded in your garden area. The sediment can either be reclaimed for re-use, or allowed to dry out and taken to the landfill / dump for safe disposal.

Unless you are using colored clays with lots of colorants in them, or a clay body with manganese dioxide (often added for oxidation use) it does not have anything of real environmental concern in it. The second clay wash barrel does not need to be cleaned as often, but you simply do the same thing.

The glaze clean up is treated the same for the first settling aspects.

However, depending on the specific chemistry of the glazes you use, the disposal of the sediments can become a bit more problematic. As a home studio, you are almost for sure WELL under volume of wastes for the EPA regulations on a pollution source to be in effect. But those wastes DO have the potential to cause some pollution depending on how they are disposed.

If all of your glazes conmtain non-toxic materials, then they are basically safe to dispose of in your garden. If all the sediment is is ground feldspar, calcium carbonate, clays, iron oxide and the like... then it is not an issue. However if you use anthing like copper, cobalt, manganese, barium, certain frits, and so on... then that is another story.

You want to REALLY allow this glaze wash bucket to settle until the water on top is pretty darn clear. Decant that off and discard (Note here... if you use soluble ingredients like soda ash...... don't just pour this "clear water" stuff on your lawn or down the drain. Let it evaporate instead of decanting.) Then let rest of the the water air evaporate. After decanting off the water and evaporating, the glaze sediments can be allowed to dry fully and then disposed of.

One technique to do this disposal is to make some VERY thick bisqued bowls and place the dry glaze sediment into them. Then fire the bowls full of junk (VERY SLOWLY) to a temperature that causes the mass to SLIGHTLY sinter into a semi-fused hard mass. Not going to a puddle of molten glass!!!!! This ties up the materials from getting into the environment a bit and makes taking them to a landfill / dump reasonably "acceptable" from a pollution standpoint.

Since you are not "regulated" on this stuff ... this is legal.

Another technique for a non-selling home hobby studio is to take either the fired lumps (from the above idea) or the simple dried lumps of sediment to a "Household Hazardous Waste " day at the local dump / recycling center.

If you asre not selling (being a business) then they will take it.

If you are a business (selling your work) the "household" days are not really a legal way to dispose of this stuff. Technically in this case, you need to dispose of this type of material with a hazardous waste contractor if your dump won't accept it. But since the volume is under the regulatory limits for even a small professional studio... your dump should likely accept it.

Another approach on using up the glaze wastes that accumulate is to settle it out and call it "mystery glaze". Usually they are rather interesting. They are a belnd of everything you use. Just don't use it on the food contact surfaces of functional ware.

Hope these thoughts maybe help.

best,

.......................john

Dear John,

Wow!!! Thank you so much for that incredible reply to my post. You have answered so many questions for me. This is a publishable post!!!

You know it is funny how I never thought about how to rinse glaze items. In my past studio, everything just went into two barrels. Clay and glaze refuse.

I am a big recycler of clay though. So it does make sense to use this barreling system and the sink as the last resort or you put it "sanitary area."

In the past, in my cooperative studio, we put all the old sludge (i.e., from both the wheels and glaze) into the same bucket. Everyday both would be decanted (first person in must take the water off). Once a week, this clay/glaze sludge was scooped into those big aluminum pans you use to cook lasagna and was placed under each kiln. The clay would eventually turn to bricks. These bricks were then simply thrown out with the garbage.

I am now, however, seeing that if I set up four buckets for both stations I should be laughing. That will definitely work.

I like the tip about the bleach. The last thing I want is bacterial or fungal growth in my water--let alone West Nile. So yeah, great suggestions. And I think if it is only me in the studio I will likely be hypervigilent about decanting.

I found your comment about air evaporation interesting. Again, I never thought about either. It makes sense. On days where it is 80-90 degrees, this water from the glaze buckets could simply be put in the air to dry fully and evaporate.

Thus, in summary, what I have learned from you is: 1) the bucket system; 2) understanding glaze ingredients that could be harmful to the environment and 3) investigate the municipalities laws regarding hazardous waste and/or dump rules.

I will not be using manganese clay or speckled clay. I will be using some manganese likely on the exterior of pots from time to time but nothing like Hans...oh I forget his name??? Sorry, but I am sure you know who I mean. But I do need to really familiarize myself on the list of toxic ingredients in clay work.

Right now, I have ordered one commercial glaze and another that I know well from my old studio. The second glaze Tucker's here in Ontario is mixing for me. This means, right now, I do not have a lot of dry product around.

I did order a number of oxides though to use with these glazes. It is these oxides that I need to really understand in terms of their toxicity.

So many things to think about in setting up my studio.

But know that I am almost there and ready to begin hobby level production.

Again, thank you Mark for posting this for me. You have made me think of a few more things that I hadn't anticipated. Thank you.

Nelly

February 21, 2012

.......... fit one directly underneath your sink outlet.

Unfortunately, she did not say she actually has a sink in the studio. That is why she mentioned having to flush stuff down the house toilet.

I have also a somewhat similar trap system to what you describe there that I built in my studio. The one difference is that I have a larger restaraunt type stainless sink with multiple bays, and one of the bays has a stand pipe in it that helps to settle out the largers stuff there....then that drain goes into the baffeled settling trap.

best,

.....................john

Nelly · February 21, 2012