Sewer Disposal - Reply

["John E. Aperans" <JAPERANS@wsmr-emh81.army.mil>]

Donald P. Mercado asked:

>Ever consider _storm_ sewer disposal as opposed to sanitary sewer
>disposal to get around the solubility/dispersibility problem? The regs
>list limits of release to air (toss it over the fence) and water, and
>mentions sanitary sewer release conditions. What is release to water
>_other_ than to a sanitary sewer? And you don't have to worry about
>those pesky waste treatment plants and their affinity for isotope
>concentration.

We have licenses, granted to us by the NRC or Agreement States, which
specify what we may use, in what quantities, and how.  In the same way,
the EPA grants permits to industries specifying how much of what 
pollutants they may discharge to the navigable waters of the US.

Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW, the water treatment plant) are
granted one of these permits by the EPA.  To ensure that they are within
the limits of their permit, they control what their customers (us) 
discharge to the sewerage system so that they do not exceed their 
authorization.

Actually, the path of least resistance is to comply with the local
POTW standards.  If you decide to dispose to the river directly,
you WILL need the blessing of the EPA and your state.  And that opens
a can of regulatory worms all its own.

                                  Have fun.

Standard Disclaimer:  These are my opinions alone, and do not reflect
the official views of the US Army or the US Government.

     ***************************************************
     *  JOHN E. APERANS, RRPT                          *
     *  Directorate for Applied Technology, Test and   *
     *                     Simulation (DATTS)          *
     *  ATTN: Health Physics                           *
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