Finish Clean Up In Rural Area With Septic Systems

[GuitarDoc]

Hey again FOGgers,

I'm new to the board and this is my second post so I hope I'm not doubling up here but I was hoping you guys could give me some insight - I'm in a rural area of Central Canada and I've got a septic system and well to take care of my water and waste needs. I'm fairly new to woodworking and I havent run into too many issues yet but now after finishing a few projects I'm starting to wonder what the best way is to get rid of my finishing waste and possibly how to best implement a utility sink. I'm using mostly water based finishes and dyes but there is also the occasional oil and I may need to get into lacquer soon - every9one tells me I need to be VERY CAREFUL what I put down the drains in order to not @#$ up my septic system. I also don't want to get any toxic chemicals into the water table if I can avoid it since I'm using it for drinking and cooking and will likely be for years to come. Anyone got any pointers for safe and environmentally friendly cleanup post finishing? At the moment I'm saving most of my waste in aluminum containers but I'm wary of mixing solvents/finishes/etc. I plan to take them to the hazmat disposal site at my local landfill once I can't store it any more. Does this seem reasonable? Also, if I'm cleaning brushes etc. and want to install a utility sink is this going to be a problem? Please help with some insight. Thanks guys!

Cheers,

Brady

 

[Thunderchyld]

My grandfather used to dispose of paint and finishes with rosin paper.  He'd just lay out a big sheet and pour on the paint in a thin layer.  Sometimes he'd use the garden slope, let the paint run down an unrolled sheet.  Once the paint was dry, he'd roll it up and that would go into the trash like anything else.  Seen this tip in a few different handyman's magazines, it's probably been around in one form or another since paint existed.

Not sure what to suggest in regards to the cleanup waste, you definitely don't want to be feeding your septic system solvents and the like. 

One thing I have noticed with used solvents.  Much of the junk in your cleaning fluids will settle out to the bottom of whatever container you're using.  Hence, if you use a tall container that you leave stationary and dispense with a pump/siphon that draws from the middle/top of the container, you can get fairly clean solvent even after it's been used quite a bit.  I'd probably still use virgin solvent for the final clean, just to make sure it's as clean as I can get it, but the first 95% of cleaning can be done with dirty fluid.