Improving the Quality of Water Resources Clean water in adequate quantity is a valuable public asset. Water plays an important role in the operation and further development of industry. There is increasing interest and participation of industry in programs for conserving waters. The multitude of tasks involved in the planning and development of programs aimed at improvement of the quality of the nation’s water resources include the solution of technical, legal, and economic problems, all of which need to be given careful attention. Such problems are receiving consideration in the development of activities under the federal Water Pollution Control Act as well as in regional, state, and local programs. The establishment of a National Technical Task Committee on Industrial Wastes on invitation of the Surgeon General of the Public Health Service is cited as one of the cooperative undertakings of industry in the over-all efforts to abate water pollution. Research on waste utilization, treatment, and disposal methods with the application of results where needed is stressed. Maximum benefit is sought through teamwork in improving the quality of our water resources.
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L. F. WARRICK Technical Services Branch, Division of Water Pollution Control, Public Health Service, Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington, D . C .
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HE importance of improving the quality of our nation’s
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waters has been widely recognized. The need for taking constructive steps in removing from o,ur watercourses those substances inimical to the general welfare is making itself increasingly apparent today. Municipalities are being called on to treat their domestic sewage. Industry is being encouraged to utilize or treat its wastes, and other private and public agencies are being urged to do their part in improving the quality of our water resources. The majority of our industries use water for processing purposes, but relatively few return it t o the streams and rivers in the same condition in which it was received. On the incoming end, process water must meet the requirements of the product being manufactured. On the outgoing end, the practice all too often has been to discharge water to the stream or sewer without any corrective treatment. Clean water is needed by many industries. For example, in the pulp and paper industry, an adequate water supply of suitable quality is a vital factor in manufacturing processes, and it is essential in most of the processing steps. It is employed for power and steam production in the mills. Vacuum evaporators use water and also cooling and condensing equipment. Accordingly, the existence of a sufficient supply of water, available a t little cost for conditioning to render it satisfactory for mill use, is a definite asset, Use of large amounts of water in manufacturing processes has inevitably created problems of waste disposal. Substances added to the water and discharged to watercourses in mill effluents occasion varying degrees of pollution. Economy in production requires that loss of process materials be kept a t a minimum, and needs for stream improvement necessitate that certain other ingredients of the effluents be removed and utilized or disposed of by the most effective practical methods. December 1953
The general problem confronting a n industry is: What can be done to return water used in its processes t o a stream in nearly the same condition as it was originally? Practical and economic considerations militate against the ideal solution, and the question resolves itself into how far i t is feasible and necessary to go in waste-reduction measures to restore waters to reasonably clean conditions. The final utilization of waters receiving mill effluents has a definite bearing on the degree of cleanliness that needs to be attained. Consideration needs to be given to the uses of these waters for drinking and domestic purposes, industrial water supply, watering of stock, propagation of fish, oysters, and other aquatic life, navigation, power production, agricultural development involving irrigation, and recreational purposes, such as bathing, boating, and fishing. Esthetic, considerations are involved, particularly in recreational areas. An adequate supply of clean water is a n indisputable asset t o an industry, yet in some parts of the country the problem of water supply has become so acute that for industrial purposes water must be reclaimed from sewage plant effluents. Industry is not unaware of these facts. On the contrary, a number of manufacturing groups are to be commended for their farsightedness in developing treatment devices and in supporting research into the improvement of facilities and methods for reremoving oxygen-consuming, toxic, and other objectionable ingredients from their plant wastes. Increased costs of water processing, which include that of treating the wastes discharged to the watercourse by municipalities and upstream industries, have made maximum use of process water essential. The high costs of constructing and operating a waste-treatment plant have led t o concentration of industrial wastes in the smallest possible amount of water, except where treatment processes require dilution. The Conservation Foundation and the National Association of
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Manufacturers have pointed out “rather conclusively, that industry uses more water as a raw material than ,any other commodity” ( 1 ) . Legal restrictions on the use of water are increasing. State water conservation laws, first passed in the West and Southwest, are now being enacted in the Midwest and East. Laws governing prior rights to water, withdrawal of ground water, and pollution of streams already have been passed and more are appearing on the horizon. Arizona in recent years enacted a ground-water control law, while New Mexico’s law calls for drilling permits and the plugging of wells that leak, as a protection against ground-water pollution.
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TASK GROUPS
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FOOD INDUSTRIES TASK SECTIONS
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F i g u r e 1. Organization C h a r t of N a t i o n a l Technical T a s k C o m m i t t e e on I n d u s t r i a l Wastes
Increasingly, industry is realizing that essentially all water supplies are critical. Water sources have to be investigated and surveyed as diligently as other raw material supplies. Some industries today are calling on specialists to survey water supplies a t potential plant sites, something that has not always been clone in the past, too often to the regret of the industries concerned. INDUSTRY’S ROLE
There has been real evidence of industry’s increased willingness to assume its share of the responsibility for preserving water resources. Part of this is self-interest, but more than mere self-interest is behind the pollution-abatement efforts of many individual firms today. As members of the communities in which they operate, they are, in ever-increasing ways, acknowledging their community responsibility, and are taking the same kind of pride in community well-being that home owners take in the neighborhoods in which they live. The chemical industry has particularly difficult waste-disposal problems t o solve, but it has been among the most progressive and forward-looking, not only in recognizing the need, but in finding solutions. An indication of this is given in the policies adopted by some of the largest industries. For example, D u Pont has stated ( a ) : Company policy dictates that no new pollution be created and t h a t existing pollution continue to be abated as methods and equipment become available, until it reaches a point near zero. Union Carbide reporta (3):
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Carbide’s management early adopted a policy of not permitting the construction of any new chemical manufacturing unit until the wastes could be properly handled without abusing the river. The company has adhered strictly to this policy. Industry’s cognizance of the role it plays in conserving our water resources and water quality already has been ably demonstrated by the establishment of working groups in some of itbranches, expending effort of technical personnel and substantial sums of money in the control of pollutional wastes. Much has been accomplished; yet much remains to be done. Industry is t o be congratulated for the increasing interest it has shown in extending t o the problem of wastes the same scientific approach employed in the solution of its other industrial problems. The advantages of cooperation have been demonstrated by the progress already made by industry. A further extension of this spirit was manifested when an invitation was extended by the Surgeon General of the U. S. Public Health Service in various branches of industry t o establish a National Technical Task Committee on Industrial Waste. This was in keeping with provisions of Public Law 845 passed by the Congress in 1948: the Water Pollution Control Act. Industry was invited to undertake certain tasks, working with the Government, for the purpose of solving on a mutually cooperative basis the waste problems confronting industry as a whole, in effecting stream improvement. The basis for establishing such a committee can be found several times in the Water Pollution Control Act. It consistently emphasizes the desirability of close cooperation among all parties concerned with or affected by water pollution. The ,4ct frequently refers to the Federal Government, state and interstate agencies, municipalities, industry-even individuals. By so doing it makes clear that the Public Health Service’s task can be effectively performed only through harmonious working relationships with all affected groups and organizations and a full understanding of the objectives of the program a t hand. COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES
Thus, the most practical and economical method of performing the fundamental technical task which confronts those industries concerned with waste disposal appears to be through coordinated effort-in a word, “teamwork.” Accordingly, it was proposed that the Surgeon General invite various industries throughout the country, each to designate a representative (and an alternate) conversant with the technical phases of its waste disposal prohlems for the purpose of forming a National Technical Task Committe on Industrial Waste, having as its functions the following: 1. To inventory, appraise, coordinate, and promote research in developing methods of using, treating, and controlling industrial wastes. 2. To facilitate the devising and adopting of uniform methods of measuring and evaluating trade wastes in u-ater quality control. 3. To stimulate more effective working relations on technical phases of trade waste problems among industry and federal, interstate, state, and local agencies. 4. To employ the facilities of the Environmental Health Center in those areas of research and development wherein they would be the most valuable to the over-all program. 5. To aid in establishing those areas where major needs exist for financial assistance in obtaining basic information on industrial waste problems in water-pollution control. 6. T o stimulate further the adoption of practical methodsknown or yet to be developed-for reclaiming, reducing, and treating wastes impairing natural stream conditions. 7 . T o achieve wide dissemination of information on technical developments and the accom lishments of industry and to maintain suitable relations wit{ technical societies, professional organizations, trade associations, and other groups which issue publications reaching persons concerned with water-pollution problems. 8. To aid in promoting training activities to increase the operating efficiency of waste-recovery and treatment systems employed by industry. 9. T o perform such other technical tasks relating to industrial
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Industrial Process Water wastes as necessary t o stimulating improvement in the quality of the nation’s water resources.
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The scope of these functions is necessarily broad, the thought being to enable the committee to serve principally as a coordinating and advisory agency to the Surgeon General on technical phases of the program. The committee, however, should not be confused with the Water Pollution Control Advisory Board. The committee’s function is to concern itself with technical matters. The Advisory Board makes recommendations t o the Surgeon General on matters pertaining to policy and administrative procedures. The Advisory Board unanimously approved the proposal to establish the committee a t its Cincinnati meeting in January 1950. I t s recommendations to the Surgeon General were followed up with invitations t o all branches of industry interested in becoming identified with the committee and its activities. At a meeting of representatives of 22 of the nation’s leading industries concerned with solving difficult industrial wftste-disposal problems affecting the quality of the country’s water resources held at Washington, May 9 and 10, 1950, there was established a National Technical Task Committee on Industrial Wastes. The committee then drew up the broad outlines of an industry-federal government approach t o the control of water pollution caused b y industrial wastes. It was agreed t h a t the purpose would be “to effect a n improvement in the quality of water resources in the nation,” and the objective would be “to perform technical tasks pertaining to industrial wastes in cooperation with the Public Health Service and all others concerned with improving the quality of our water resources.” The committee set for itself three initial tasks:
1. To assemble a list showing sources of information on processes and practices known for using, treating, and controlling industrial wastes. 2. T o assemble a tabulation of research projects concerned with utilization, treatment and disposal of wastes, those under way and those contemplated. 3. T o provide a list which will define problems t h a t confront a given industrial group and for which there is no satisfactory solution, particularly those which are common t o more than one industry.
The committee held its second meeting in Cincinnati in January 1951, giving assistance in the evaluation of research and development work being conducted by the Environmental Health Center of the U. S. Public Health Service concerning water pollution. Inventories of industrial wastes research projects currently in progress and pending were reviewed. Exploration of tasks common t o more than one branch of industry was given further impetus. An industrial waste guide on beet sugar wastes was considered. This is the first of a series t h a t is being developed through studies of the Environmental Health Center with aid of the Taek Committee.
N.T.T.C.I.W. Representatives of Industries Coo erating with U.S.P.H.S. and Others on Technical Probfems Involved in Improving the Quality of the Nation’s Water Resources
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December 1953
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TASK GROUPS
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TASK UNITS
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FEDERAL, INTERSTATE, STATE, AND OTHER PUBLIC AGENCIES
TASK COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION
The Task Committee established four major “task groups,” as shown in Figure 1, which act as working committees to carry out the functions of the committee at large. They are: Task Group I, Food Industries; Task Group 11, Mineral Products Industries; Task Group 111, Chemical Processing Industries; and Task Group IV, General Industries. Subsequent t o the organization of the Task Committee, steps have been taken to expedite the activities through the progressive establishment of task sections and task units. The general procedure is illustrated by Figure 2. The desire has been t o encourage as wide participation as possible in technical tasks confronting the committee. Today the group has 57 members, representing 36 major industrial categories covering thousands of individual plants. A brief indication of the categories will give a sense of the far-reaching influence of the technical task organization and the extent of the cooperation which industry, through this group, offers the Federal Government and all concerned in seeking solutions t o this important national problem. Some of these categories are: automotive, beet sugar, canning, chemical manufacturing, dairy products, distilling, electric, electroplating, fermentation, iron and steel, lumber, mining, meat and poultry packing, nonferrous metals, petroleum, pulp, paper and paperboard, rubber, tanning, and textile industries. A tremendous economic value can be derived from the coordinated research and pooling of information on water quality problems which will be available from a group having this wide representation.
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TECHNICAL, PROFESSIONAL, TRADE, A N D SIMILAR ORGANIZATIONS (A.P.H.A., A.S.T.M., A.W.W.A., F.S.W.A., T.A.P.P,I., etc.)
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Figure 2. Organization Chart of National Technioal Task Committee on Industrial Wastes
The role of the Environmental Health Center is important in relation t o the Task Committee’s activities. The center is staffed and equipped to conduct industrial waste studies and to investigate stream-pollution problems associated therewith. Objectives of the center’s industrial wastes program are fourfold:
1. To assemble basic information on industrial wastes having national or regional significance. 2. To determine, in the light of stream uses, the physical, chemical, and biological effects and rates of recovery from effects of industrial wastes in the receiving waters. 3. To develop and improve analytical methods, techniques, and equipment for studying industrial wastes and their effects on receiving waters. 4. T o evaluate control methods and undertake miscellaneous activities. Progress was reported at the meetings in November 1951 in Chicago, Ill., and in June 1952 a t Cincinnati, Ohio. Technical tasks are proceeding. For example, the milk industry has completed work on a n industrial waste guide covering methods for reducing milk losses and for treatment of wastes. A waste guide t o the naval stores industry, developed by the Environmental
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Health Center, has been submitted to the committee for review. The developments reported are encouraging and indicate that industry is going steadily ahead with the technical tasks directed toward the reduction of wastes reaching our water resources. -4s now developing, a large portion of the technical work of the committee is being performed by work groups composed of the best technical talent from those industries sending representatives to the committee. It is anticipated that by bringing together industries which have what might be termed a community of interest in so far as wastes are concerned. duplication of effort and needless expense can be minimized. Likewise, those groups best equipped and staffed to conduct studies along certain lines can advantageously be assigned those tasks. The exchange of data and information of a fundamental nature-information which can be applied by the participating industries to their individual problems--udl continue to be encouraged as more groups take part in the activities. These activities will not in any way conflict with or replace activities that already have been sponsored, organized, and financed by various industries. On the contrary, the thought is t o extend the base of technical investigation and broaden the understanding of the potentialities of stream improvement in terms mutually agreeable to both industry and government. As a typical and fundamental problem, for which there is pressing need for suitable definition, the question of “yardsticks” of pollution for all water uses is a good example. This is a technical problem which in one way or another affects all industries discharging wastes into natural water sources. It is an example of
but one of the many technical tasks which require wide consultation and general agreement. The answer appears to lie in close working relations, in teamwork. SUMMARY
I n summary, the need for conserving the quality of our water resources to take care of various uses, including industrial water supply, is emphasized. Municipalities, industries, and others have their part in the solution of water-pollution problems. Even though considerable progress is being made, much remains to be accomplished. Cooperation of all concerned is advocated in proceeding with tasks ahead in reducing water pollution. Such procedure, in developing essential technical information on waste utilization or treatment and improvement in water quality, is illustrated by the organization and activities of the National Technical Task Committee on Industrial Wastes. Developments in this program of industry and government already are indicative of progrqss to be expected in taking care of technical aspects of the improvement of the waters of the nation. LITERATURE CITED (1) Conservation Foundation and National Association of hlanu-
facturers, “Water in Industry,” December 1950. (2) Workman, R. W., “Shame of Our Streams,” State Water Commission of West Virginia, p. 15; reprint from Charleston ( W . Vu.) Gazette, November 1951. (3) Ibid., p. 16.
RECEIVED for review April 10, 1963.
ACCEPTED
October 9, 1953.
Disposal of Atomic Energy T h e special nature and products of the atomic energy industry present some important environmental problems, especially as related to disposal of radioactive and toxic wastes. Research and development on which to resolve these problems are being carried out under Atomic Energy Commission contracts uTith public agencies, universities, national laboratories, and private research organizations. The paper discusses these problems, the progress made to date in resolving them, and the policy of the Atomic Energy Commission in dealing realistically with questions of waste disposal w-hich have plagued many other industries.
ARTHUR E. CORMAN Disision of Engineering, C‘. S . Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D. C .
NDUSTRIAL management in the United States has come t o appreciate that a liberal farsighted policy in waste disposal and environmental sanitation has many advantages over the oldfashioned “do as you please” attitude that once was commonplace. Management of most industries which followed this policy now realize it was shortsighted and a mistake, and their numbers are fast diminishing. I n contrast, today we find specialists such as medical directors, industrial hygienists, sanitary engineers, chemists, and biologists in industry working together conducting important research in waste disposal. These scientists hold important committee memberships in professional societies which are leading the way to a newer and mutually profitable relationship between industry and public agencies responsi-
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ble for the health, safety, and xelfare of our people and protection of our natural resources. The purpose of this paper is to point out some of the environmental sanitation problems of the atomic energy industry, and to record how they are being worked on both within and outside the industry and with the cooperation of public agencies, universities, and other industries. RAPID GROWTH QF ATOMIC ENERGY IIVDUSTRY
The atomic energy industry with its unprecedented expansion program is in fact a late comer in a nationally well integrated industrial, economic, and social community. This in addition to the uniqueness of its operations and its product, the lack of general
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