Waste Management Practices
in Drycleaning Operations
This info-letter is the fifth entry of our series on drycleaning operations, their impact on the environment and ensuing hurdles they pose in real estate transactions.
The previous entry can be viewed here.
Contact
water is any water that has come into contact with drycleaning solvents
or drycleaning solvent vapors. Contact water contains some level of
dissolved solvent.
In
1988, the International Fabricare Institute conducted a study of
drycleaning equipment and plant operations, including waste disposal
practices.
Over
70.7% of the 909 drycleaning operations that responded to the survey
indicated that separator water was being discharged to either a
sanitary sewer or a septic tank.
Septic Tank
It
is reasonable to conclude that historically, sanitary sewers and septic
tanks have been the most common disposal points for contact water
(separator water, vacuum water and mop water).
Old Sewer Line
Damaged Sewer Line
Old Sewer Connection
A
study of drycleaning solvent contamination in California concluded,
“The main discharge point for dry cleaners is the sewer line.”. Studies
conducted in California have found evidence of the presence of
free-phase PCE in sewer lines serving dry cleaning plants.
Other
disposal practices for contact water have included discharge to the
ground, discharge to storm sewers and soakage pits, and discharge to
blind drains. Contact water has reportedly been discharged to cooling
towers and boilers at drycleaning facilities.
Blind Drain
(The information in this newsletter has been gleaned from an EPA sponsored site http://www.drycleancoalition.org and enhanced with pictures obtained from the Web.)
