Our house exterior is being painted with Sherwin Williams latex exterior paint. Our painters insist on dumping their paint rinsing water etc. on the ground. I've heard this is not good for the environment and I don't want to create a toxic waste site in my yard. They say it is ok because it is Latex, not Oil paint. Pouring it down my drain would be equivalent, because of the septic system leach field.
Who's right?
Latex isn't a problem, as long as they flush it enough to not actually coat and suffocate the grass. Disposal protocol for old latex is to leave the can open till it dries, and then landfill. In a month, you won't be able to see where they spilled it. Unless they are utter slobs, the amount will be miniscule.
aem sends...
Your local health department can direct you to latex waste water disposal regulati The biggest toxicity issue with latex paint is that older (pre 1993) paints sometimes contained mercury based anti-fungal compounds, these are not present in modern paints (though some other compounds of possible concern still are).
The most common recommend disposal technique for latex paint is to dry it, then dispose of it as solid waste, accelerating the process with an absorbent such as kitty litter if desired.
In many places latex paint "wastewater" from washing tools is considered non-toxic enough so that it can be disposed of public sanitary sewerage system, for example
If you do, I'd appreciate it if you would post what you learn, including references to any MDDS / Datasheets or other documentaion of their position.
Thanks
Michael Thomas Paragon Home Inspection, LLC Chicago, IL mdtATparagoninspectsDOTcom eight47-475-5668
Not commenting on the appropriateness of dumping the paint waste in the yard: DO NOT LET IT GET IN YOUR SEPTIC! If I had paint to dispose of, I'd let it harden and put it out with the trash. I buy cheap roller covers and throw em out. I rinse brushes in the yard, but that's not much paint in the yard.
John wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@use.net.use:
Brushes, empty pans and accessories I have always just held them out and shot with the hose. Never hurt anything. Anything with any volume I take back in a corner and clean. Never hurt anything back there either actually.
Not quite. It will trash the septic system before it gets out to any soil. That is downright stupid to do.
Just offer it up for free on Craigslist. There's always someone looking for some extra paint for a small projects (i.e. bird house builders or crafters).
-al sung
In my township we get rid of latex paints 2 ways:
Letting it air dry. Or if there's too much to air dry, then we have to pour it into kitty litter.
Alan Sung wrote:
To clarify, this is waste from cleaning etc (still a lot of paint) but mixed with water, paint thinner etc. It is not excess paint still in the original cans/buckets.
Thought it's probably too late for the OP, any significant quantity of left over paint can be donated to Habitat for Humanity, etc. Otherwise save it in sealed plastic containers for touch up use later, (save some anyway!), or let it dry and throw out the dried materials. You can even spread it on scraps of plywood and drywall, etc, and let it dry and just reuse the material or throw the scraps away. Most water based paint now is not terribly bad to rinse out in the yard but you never know. Unless the can indicates it is somehow that safe, IMO it's better not to rinse it into the yard. I would definitely not rinse it into an area you might use for food-producing garden plants, in any case.
As others have said. There is no harm in cleaning brushes, etc. in the yard. There is no paint thinner per se used for latex as the "thinner" is plain water. Do not put it in your septic though.
Harry K
Please read before you post. The OP's question had to do with paint contaminated waste water from washing brushes, rollr cover, roller pans, etc.
Birdhouse builders don't use waste water to paint.
There was no question about what to do with left over paint.
Where do you want them to dump it? If it was you doing some painting, where would YOU dump it? Gee, the thing with latex paint is, "it cleans up with water". Theories aside, what do you THINK people do with wash water from latex paint brushes??? (This your first house?)
Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.
Actually they did have a few cans of "Paint Thinner - made with mineral spirits." Not sure why they would need it for latex paint (Sherwin Williams A100 primer and Duration exterior) but probably were cleaning brushes with it for some reason.
When I do oil painting projects, I am very careful with mineral spirits I use for cleaning brushes used for oil paint. I don't just dump them in my yard. I have found that you can recycle most of the mineral spirits, because the paint settles to the bottom.
When the neighbor had their house painted with latex, the painters collected their wastewater and took it away. I understand it is ok to put latex paint wastewater in a city sewer, throughly dilluted. I also believe there is a way to settle and/or separate the majority of the latex out of the water to reduce pollution.
Meanwhile they clogged up an important french drain (!!!!) with latex paint, not sure how that can be fixed without a lot of digging, which is very difficult because the drain access is narrow and the ground level (covered/sealed with the paint) is nearly 4 feet below. Help!
Not for latex. I was made to do it by my neighbor's 80 yoa mother. It turned the brushes into a mess. The latex paint didn't clean out but turned to some kind of gummy mess. I finally was able to clean em up with water. I can't think of any reason for it while using latex but they would have it on the truck for jobs using oil base.
Harry K
replying to John, Darryl Robida wrote: PAINT THINNER, Hey full STOP, that was not in this discussion thread. And, etc. Alan, how can I give a definitive answer to your sloppy question?.
google cant run a newsgroup, how will they ever design the software to run a vehicle:(
this discussion is 10 years old......
Google isn't running the newsgroup. People find old threads and reply to them. What's your solution? Prevent replies to threads that are more than X months old? I guess you could do that, but then many of them would start a new thread, without us being able to see the history of the previous one.
historically old threads could not be repled to.....
people could post a link back to the original thread.
replies to 10 year old threads is nuts
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