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Washing machine discharge containing microplastic - what to do?


Psycloud

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1 hour ago, Bee said:

I think this is a problem that is hard if not impossible to fix from the 'end user' point, that's you, me and the rest of the world. It needs to be addressed by our democratically elected representatives (Oh Dear) A few e mails or letters to your MP and anybody else you can think of, clothing manufacturers, retailers and so on. That might feel like its pointless but I have set aside a boring half hour to do this today and the next time I remember I shall do it again, and again .....and so on. It might not be much but whenever I do something 'good' I feel I have earned a chocolate biscuit!

It was always like that. If governments had the will they could have done so much to minimise plastic pollution years ago (not microplastics from clothes but even those could be reduced) by tackling it at source - the manufacturers who like plastics packaging etc. because it improves their profits. However that would mean taking on their paymasters in a robust way with plenty of legal backup and very large fines to ensure ignoring whatever legislation could  lead to insolvency.

 

All of a sudden we would find returnable glass bottles, paper bags, paper straws and wooden cotton bud sticks making a comeback - maybe even zinc toothpaste tubes. It will never  happen, its easier to shift the blame to the end user who often has no choice in the matter.

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On 20/06/2019 at 09:27, Bee said:

I think this is a problem that is hard if not impossible to fix from the 'end user' point, that's you, me and the rest of the world. It needs to be addressed by our democratically elected representatives (Oh Dear) A few e mails or letters to your MP and anybody else you can think of, clothing manufacturers, retailers and so on. That might feel like its pointless but I have set aside a boring half hour to do this today and the next time I remember I shall do it again, and again .....and so on. It might not be much but whenever I do something 'good' I feel I have earned a chocolate biscuit!

So I figured that I did want to try and fix this particular issue for myself.  I bought 100micron water filter sock that I think would usually be used in aquarium/pond filter from eBay for £6 and placed it over the end of the outlet hose (I actually discharge the machine into a 25l drum before emptying into the cut) and this is what I caught washing a 10 year old towel and a couple T-Shirts.  Admittedly the towel fibres are 100% cotton so would degrade but I dread to think how many fibres collectively we're feeding to the wildlife. 

 

Of course the next question is what to do with them now.  Landfill isn't ideal so I'm probably going to collect them for a while then give them to my dear wife to take to work where they send waste to a "clean" incineration facility for power production.

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17 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Much of that stuff is caught by the waste treatment plant. Our drains don’t usually go straight into the water course. 

Household drains go via treatment plant - most boaters washing machines however do go straight into the water.

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On 20/06/2019 at 08:02, Chewbacka said:

I agree that pollution into water courses was much worse before, but it was a different kind of pollution (not saying this was ok) whereas micro plastics will remain in the sea for years killing marine life.  Pollutants previously were either dispersed and so diluted and broken down, or in the case of heavy metal wastes would sink to the bottom and stay there polluting relativity small areas.  Now the stuff disperses but does not break down in a reasonable time and will accumulate within sea life, as do some chemical pollutants such as pcb and DDT.  So though the total polluting waste going into the sea is less than it was, many of the substances are more harmful, so on balance I don't see much improvement over the years

 

 

There were plenty of persistent pollutants in the past that are no longer permitted in European waterways that didn't break down and ended up in the food chain. You say that many of the substances now are more harmful but which ones are you talking about? I agree that micro-plastics are more widely distributed but the research is still ongoing and we don't yet know the biological effects, so we don't know if they're more harmful.

 

If you gave me a glass of water contaminated with a harmful concentration of DDT and heavy metals and another one contaminated with a lot of micro-plastics extracted from a washing machine, and you forced me to drink one at gunpoint, I know which one I'd choose.

Edited by blackrose
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45 minutes ago, The Welsh Cruiser said:

The solution is to re route the waste to discharge over the towpath. The micro plastics will then become part of the soil, less damaging than being part of fishes diet.

To quote the song: "Then duck'll come and eat up t'worms, eat up t'worms..."

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2 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

There were plenty of persistent pollutants in the past that are no longer permitted in European waterways that didn't break down and ended up in the food chain. You say that many of the substances now are more harmful but which ones are you talking about? I agree that micro-plastics are more widely distributed but the research is still ongoing and we don't yet know the biological effects, so we don't know if they're more harmful.

 

If you gave me a glass of water contaminated with a harmful concentration of DDT and heavy metals and another one contaminated with a lot of micro-plastics extracted from a washing machine, and you forced me to drink one at gunpoint, I know which one I'd choose.

The point I was trying to make is that persistent widespread pollutants such as ddt or pcbs have always been a serious problem but we have reduced the amount being put into the sea so accept that is an improvement, as to heavy metals these tend to disperse less and so it’s easier to avoid the contaminated area.  By more harmful, I meant slow to breakdown with long term impacts, so now fish are returning to many rivers etc. but in recent years radioactive wastes from Chernobyl and Fukushima have entered the sea, and I understand still are, China has restarted hfc production for building foams (air, not water, but still harmful) lots of pharmaceuticals in waste water (inc contraceptive pill) etc.  So whilst things are improving, they are far from ok.

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On 18/06/2019 at 11:42, Psycloud said:

So on last night's War On Plastic program they showed the microplastic in the washing waste water.  Like most boaty people our washing machine waste ends up in the canal for the fish to consume.  I know you can buy massively expensive filters and also Cora balls but that only captures about 28%.  I wonder of just putting a filterbag over the outlet would work?  Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

 

David

I guess the washing machine waste from houses also ends up in rivers since sewage works have to  discharge somewhere.

So you are doing no worse than anyone else.

The avoidance of man made materials in clothing is ,I expect, almost impossible to achieve. 

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