Distillation: Waste Water Treatment for Release to Sewers - 11067

Eckert & Ziegler Isotope Products has produced reference/calibration, medical, and industrial radioactive sources since 1967. Curie levels of radioactive materials, including Ba-133, Cd-109, Co-57, Cs-137, Gd-153, and Ge-68, are handled daily in the laboratories. During the chemical processing of radionuclides, strong acid, strong base, and high levels of radioactive nuclide residuals are introduced into the waste water. As a result, due to its high chemical and radiological content, that waste water must be treated before discharge. Distillation has been chosen to do this. The one-gallon distiller used for this process is available at most hardware stores, making it very cost effective, given the results. This paper discusses the effectiveness and efficiency of distillation for waste-water treatment. The pre- and post-treated waste-water test comparison showed a 90 percent radiological and chemical load reduction.