of

'**«"*~iBOARD OF HEALTH

STATE OFF ICE B U I L D I N G

MADISON 229,

1N R1PLY PLEA"SECT ION ON

E N V I R O N M E N T A L S A N I T A T I O N

Mr. Loul* i. Phlllip*, President•ational Pr«»eure Cooker CompanyKaa Clidro, WUoontlmDMT Mr. PhlUip«i

Th«r« la vnoloMd herewith a report oa an iaraatigatloa ofth« method of waaU diipoaal at your Manufacturing plant, nad* oaiuguat 6 - 7 , 19S2 by our dralaag* baatn

Tha raport daaorib^a In datall tha aouroaa of vaaUa andtjp«« of oparatloaa that ara oarrlad on on jrour plant proporV* 1%furthar dltouaaM tba poaaibllltr of pamant aataoda of oorraotinftba problaa of orarloadlng tha aaaltary aawvr ayvta* la tha rlolaitjrof jour plant, and oonoludaa that tha praaant taaporarj naana ofrallaring tha problem thraatana to contaminate ground water auppllaain tha o

STATE BOARD OF HEALTHDISTRICT OFFICE NO. 7417H NORTH BRIDGE STREET

CHIPPEWA FALLS

September 0,

L'.r. 0* J. MaeggeState Sanitary aigineerState Office BuildingMadison 2, WisconsinDear Sin

There is submitted herewith a report on an investigation of themethod of waste disposal at a metal products manufacturing plant made onAugust 6-7, 19£2 in response to ccnplaints rolative to the overloading ofsanitary sewers in the City of Eau Claire.

Owner:Officials:

GSIJERAL INFORMATIONnational Pressure Cooker Company, Eau Claire, WisconsinPresident - LIr. Louis L. PhillipsPlant Sigineor - Mr. LI. A. Vfoody

?.aw !!aterialst Aluminum, steel, brass, coolants, kerosene(100 GPD),

Products?

Pastes:

metal plating chemicals.Aluminim products - pressure cookers, deep-fat fryers,steam flat irons, outboard motors (1^000 pieces per day,aggregate)^ national defense items.Wastes from outboard motor testing tanks, metal platingwastes, metal grinding and buffing wastes, casting washings,cooling water, sanitary sewage. Total volume 607,000gallons per day.

Soil; GravelStream; Chippewa RiverDrainage Basini Lower Chippewa, 26aLocation: Chippewa Road on north edgo of the City of Eau Claire.

CONDITIONS FOUIiD

In past years the National Pressure Cooker Company has relied uponseepage pits for waste disposal* There are seven seepage pits on companyproperty, the dimensions of which vary to seme extent but they average

Ur. 0. J. Muegge Page 2September 8,

eighteen to twenty feet in diameter, v/ith a dopth of approximately eight feet.The tops of these pits are about ten feet below tho ground surface. Fourseepage pits of wood construction vrero air catty installed when this companytook over the plant. Throe additional pits of dry-laid concrete block wallswere constructed after the company began operdions. The pits arc all equippedwith overflow pipes to the city sanitary sewers.

In tho Spring of 1952 tho City of Eau Claire experienced soverlyexcessive flows in the sanitary sower serving the national Pressure CookerCompany. Serrate backed up in the sewers in many homos and flooded the base-ment cafeteria of an elementary school. For covcral hours each day it wasimpossible to flush toilets in residences connected to this sewer.Engineers for the City of Eau Claire found that water had risen to a depthof five feet above the top of the sowar in tho manhole at the corner ofHallie Lane and Locust Lane, tfiich is located Just beyond tho property ofnational Pressure Cooker Company. Subsequent investigation at the plantsite indicated that the company seepage pits may havo ceased to function dueto clogging of the soil through long usage, the plant wastes then dischargingto the sanitary sower. Since thoro is no storm savior in tho aroa a temporaryarrangement was worked out whereby gasoline powered pumps wero connoctod toihe seepage pits, pumping the wastes to a gravel borrow pit on company property.This arrangement offered considerable relief from the oorioua sewer overloadand is still in effect. The present investigation was made to offer sonepermanent solution to the problem.

PLANT OPERATIONThe National Pressure Cooker Company manufactures alumina products

n;nely: pressure cookers, deep-fat fryers, 3 team flat irons, and outboardmotors, plus national defense items. Total combined daily production isestimated to be 1*000 pieces. Plant operations includo metal casting andcasting washing, grinding and buffing operations, metal plating, outboardmotor testing, various machining operations, and parts assembly. A briefdescription of the operations conducted in the various company buildingsis as follows:

Building #10li, '.Tin* 9 - Itarbin L'otor testing or "run-in" tanks.Pastes primarily from those- tanks, containinn gasoline and oil.

Building #1QJ4> '.Ting 7A - Grinding and buffing operations, metalplating, and part of L! art in Motors Division. Wastes contain metal particles,abrasives, fibers, plating chemicals, cooling water from a large welder.

Building #103 - Foundry and machining operations. Wastes containmetal particles, abrasives, fibers, and coolants. Discharge to sanitary sewers.

Building : AO? - Grinding and buffing operations to sanitary sewers.Building #135 - Laundry, alurainim die casting, gasket grinding, plastic

presses^ Discharge to sanitary sewer through a seepage pit.Building #103 - Assembly. Toilet uastes to sanitary sewer.

llr. 0. J. L*uegge Page 3September 8, ? n [ £

The major portion of the wastes which arc now being pimped from theseepage pits and discharged to the borrow pit apparently have their sourcein building #10U, '.Tings 7A and 9. Pastes from V/ing 9 originate primarily Inthe outboard motor testing tanks and contain gasoline and oil. Severaldifferent plating baths are utilized in '.Ying 7A, A brief description of thechemical constituents of the baths is as follows:

Nickel plating bath - Nickel sulphate, nickel chloride, boric acid,cobalt sulphate, sulphuric acid. The pH is maintained between 3»6 - U«2.

Copper bath - Sodium cyanide, caustic soda, a odium carbonate, coppercyanide. The p:I is maintained at about 13» £ »

Zinc bath - Sodium cyanide, caustic soda, sodium carbonate, zinccyanide, zinc oxide.. The pi! maintained at about 13»5»

Cadium bath - Sodium cyanide, caustic soda, sodium carbonate,cadium oxide. The pH maintained at about 13*5.

Chromium bath - Chronic acid, sulphuric acid.Anodizing bath - 10% chronic acid by weight.Acid dips - 3 - 5£ sulphuric or hydrochloric acid.

•—None of these plating baths are dumped or changed, chemicals are addedperiodically to maintain required concentrations. However, se ve ral_ _e 1 e aningand dip tanks are dunped periodically. Ono largo automatic plater has threetanks which arc "dumped at various time's. Those -ire: one 275 gallon _cleanertank dumped _each._tv/o_vjccjc3, one 2£0 gallon hydrocliloric acid dip tankdumped each two weeks, one 2£0 gallon tank containing sodium dichromate(13 - 16 oz. per gallon) and sulphuric acid (18 - 22 ml. per gallon)dumped at three week intervals. In addition to the above, the followingtanks are dumped at the indicated intervals:

One 2^0 gallon nickel cleaner tank - once per week.One 100 gallon sulphuric acid dip tank - once per week.One 60 gallon nitric-hydrochloric acid dip (bright dip for brass) -

once per vreelc.-tanks of jjfoj l??...2^11on capacities ̂ two weeks._ ...

One 2£0 gallon cleaner tank in anodizing line - three weekThere are several rinse tanks in the plating department in which the

plated parts are dipped upon removal from the plating baths. J'ost of thesetanks have continuous overflows and arc the source of moct of the netalsfound in the plant wastes. The cleaning tanks contain caustic soda, trisodiunphosphate, and sodium metasilicate.

The company has no city water and supplies its own water from twowells. The distribution systen is supplied by tiro pumps wliich are automati-cally controlled by the water level in a 160,000 gallon storage tank. Thisstorage tank rides on the distribution system. The company wells arecurrently undergoing coaie repairs and pumping tests have recently beencompleted. It was found that '.Yell "3", Jie south well, delivers 52£ gallonsper minute when pimping against 60 psi, the pressure in the distribution system.

L'x. 0. J. IMegpe Page 1;September 8, 2 2

'.'fell "C", the nortli well, delivers 62[j gallons per ninuto against 60 psi.These wells arc located in gravel formation and are appro:dmatcly 130 feetdeep. It has been estimated that the combined pumping tino on the twowells is 30 hours.

In July of this year the City of Eau Claire installed weirs at threepoints in order that the volume of wastes could bo determined. A 90 v-notch7/eir was installed at the sanitary sewer manhole at Hallie Lane and LocustLane, just beyond company property. A 90° v-notch weir was installed at aculvert on a company road about 500 foot couth from the plant proper, and astilling-box equipped vdth a 6-inch rectangular weir was installed to measurethe discharge from tho pump connected to the main seepage pit. In additionto the pximp discharge from the main seepage pit there arc two additionalwaste flows. A second seepage pit overflows by gravity to a ditch to theeast of the pump discharge. This flow is from the Martin Ifotors Division.A third seepage pit is emptied by a small pump and discharges primarilyclear water to a ditch to the west of the largo pump discharge. Thesethree flows join above the culvert, where Lhe combined flows were measured.

On August 6 and 7 the measured flow from the main seepage pit(Station #3) was 260,06h gallons. The volume of wastes measured at theculvert (Station #2) amounted uo 35o,3. r >2 gallons. At this station a pondof considerable size was created behind the vroir and it is probable thatsome waste volume was lost duo to soil absorption. The volume of wastesdischarged to the city sanitary sewer, measured at Hallie and Locust Lanes(Station #1) was found to be 336*672 gallons. The total measured plant wastevolume was 687,021; gallons.

Teir readings were made and samples collected in proportion to theflow at half-hour intervals. The composite samples obtained were transmittedto i-he State Laboratory of Hygiene for chemical analyses. Table I indicatesthe results of these analyses. Slow tables are appended to this report. Asindicated in Table I considerable quantities of toxls _motals_ and chemicalswore discharged in the wastes, the most""Important of which are chromium andcyanl38. " The laboratory was not prepared to determine quantities of cadmiumbut will forward these results at a later date. Aluminum is unquestionablypresent in considerable quantities but since this metal has little toxicproperty analysis for aluminum was not made. In the process of collectingsamples it was noted that considerable quantities_pf oil and_£r_qase jverepresent in_th_e wastes. However the laboratory found that it" was not possibleto determine the quantity present because of adherence to the sample bottle.

DISCUSSIONDue to the large volume of wastes fron this plant, vdth the resulting

overload on the city sanitary sewer, it is apparent that these wastes mustbo disposed of in some other manner. The City of Eau Claire is now planningto provide secondary treatment at the municipal sewage treatment plant.Wastes of the type developed at the National Pressure Cooker Company caninterfere with the biological processes in this type of treatment. The cityhas for some time been experiencing trouble with sludge digestion. Thewastes from this industrial plant may bo a contributing fac'tor in this difficulty.

Ur. 0. J. Hue i Page £September 8, J->f?2

No storm sewer is available in the area at tlio present time, therefore- lagoon-ing is the only disposal method now available. In the literature it is notedthat there have been several instances of contamination of ground water bymetal-working plants utilizing lagooning of wastes as a method of disposal*The toxic metals and chemicals should bo removed before discharge to a lagoon.

The City of Eau Claire plans to provide storm sower to the NationalPressure Cooker area within a relatively short period of time. '/Then thissov/cr bcconcs available the company can chooso between two methods of wastedisposal, namoly: lagooning or discharge to the stonn ncvror. !.'any of thowaste constituents present arc toxic to aquatic life in very small concentrationsand if these wastes arc discharged to a stor-n cower tho toxic materials shouldfirst be removed. Engineers for the City of 3au Claire state that tho gradenecessary on any stom sewer to the comparer area will be such that underpresent conditions it will bo necessary to lift tho plant wastes to the sewerby pump. Since lagooning also requires punpinc it is felt that a permanentpumping station should bo built at the present uime. It would be advantageousto build such a station in a manner that would allow it to be utilized ifdischarge to a storm sewer is ever decided upon. The possibility of relayingsewer lines from the plant to obtain gravity flow to the storm sewer shouldalso be investigated. Treatment facilities should bo provided at the earliestpossible time in order to prevent contamination of ground water supplies.Such treatment facilities should be constructed in such a manner that treatedwastes can be discharged to the proposed stom sewer if such disposal isanticipated. In order that the slso of treatment facilities may bo kept ata minimum it is desirable to segregate all clear, uncontaminatod vrater fromthe wastes containing toxic materials. This clear v/atcr can then be dischargeddiroctly to a lagoon or storm sower vdthout treatment. It is apparent thatall industrial wastes from this plant are not being discharged to tho lagoonat this time. The larjc volume of wastes measured at the sanitary cowerstation, together with tho chemical analyncs indicate that this la true.It is desirable to remove this remaining portion of tho wastes from thesanitary sewer and discharge it to the lagoon. Some provision, probably acoveroa pipe, should be made to prevent tho wastes from freezing before theyroach the lagoon. Hie difference in elevation between the culvert and wastedischarge points at the plant is vory slight and sono difficulty may be ex-perienced during the winter months. Ice in the ditches could conceivablyraise the elevation in tho bottom of tho ditches enough to cause the wastesto back up into the plant.

CONCLUSIOISIt can bo concluded from this investigation that tho national

Pressure Cooker Company has in the past and is now discharging excessivequantities of industrial wastes to the City of Kau Claire sanitarysewers, and further, that tho present method of waste disposal threatensto contaminate ground irater supplies in the company area.

l!r. 0. J* MuegRe Page 6September 8, : 2

RECOLM5KDATIOHSIt is therefore recommended that:1* All clear-water wastes be segregated from wastes containing

toxic materials*2* Clear-water wastes be disposed of separately*3. All industrial wastes bo removed from tho sanitary se-.vcr*Jj. A permanent pumping station be constructed of adequate

capacity to handle all plant industrial wastes.$• If a pumping station is not constructed tho sowers from the

plant be re-laid to obtain gravity flow.6. Adequate treatment facilities bo provided to rornova all toxic

materials and oil or grease from the industrial wastes*

Heapectfully submitted,STATE BOARD OF HEALTH

A. IlosenkranzDrainage Bacin Engineer

Encs.

Approved this_____day of____________, 1952.

Theodore F* WisnievrskiDirector of Water Pollution

TABLE IINDUSTRIAL WASTE ANALYSES

National Pressure Cooker Co., Eau ClaireAusust 6-7, 1952

Analyses

5tal SolidsFixedVolatile

-luble Solidsupended Solids

FixedVolatile

-Day B.O.D.CopperChromiumZinc:iickoiCyanideCadmium

Station #1

• PP*i

2U886

1629k

15U8

1U653o.U0.680.120.30.0—

Pounds

696.92lil.7U55.226U.1132.7

22.5U10.31U8.91.121.910.3U0.81i0.0—

Station //2ppm

22U132

92158

662

61;13.62.8

' 3.85.61.50.52—

Pounds

65U.1385.U206.6U6l.lt192.7

5.8186.939.78.18

11.1016.35U.381.52—

Station #3ppm

216128

88170U6

6Uo12.03.UU.23.U2.00.88—

Pounds

U68.7277.8191.0368.999.813.086.826.07.389.U7.38U.3U1.91-

.al Flow: Station #1 - Sanitary sewer manhole at Hallie Lane and Locust Lane :336,672 GPD = 2,809,528 Pounds

Station #2 - Culvert on plant road = 350,352 GPD = 2,923,687 Pounds

Station #3 - Punp discharge = 260,06U/= 2,170,23U PoundsGPD

F Me Lane6-7 j 1951

SETAQE FLOW DATALocust Lano Sanitary

Station #1 wor ir90° V-Notch Weir

Tiae

3:00 P.M.3:301*:001 * :305:005:306:006:307:007:308:008:30°:00

3015:0010:3011:0011:3012:00 Uidnite12i301:00 A.M.1:302:002:303:003:30Ii:001 * :30

*30V:006:307:007:303:008:309:009:30

10:0010:3011:0011:3012:00 Noon12:301:001:302:00

Head onTTeir -Inches

7-lA6-1/25-iA5-Vii5-VU5-1/1*5-VU5-VU5~Vl*5-vu5— 1/1*5—1/1*5t$555 A5™Vu-j>— i/U55—1/1*5551*-V2555-VU5555-V25-V277-VU7-3A8-3/88-3/88-3/88-1/28-5/88-3/88-3/88-V88-3/88-5/8

FlowO.P.M.

32521*9H*711*711*711*711*711*7U*711*711*711*7130130130130130130U*711*713011*713013013010013013011*7130130330165165299325381*1*651*651*651*825001*651*651*651*655oo

SampleSize Ml.

655029292929292929292929262626262626292926292626262026262926262633336065779393939610093939393100

Remarks

Weir cleaned out - Heavydeposit of silver-graysludge - gritty, s>ma fibe

Quantities of oilQuantities of oilQuantities of oilQuantities of oilQuantities of oilSmaller amount oil

Summary: Average Flow s 238«8 gallons per minute-= 336,672 gallons per day

igust 6-7. 1952

S&VAGE FLOff Dili>ra>tional Pressure Cooker ConpanyStation #2 - Culvert Claire

90° V-Notch Weir

Time

3:10 P.M.3:W1*:10l*:liO5:105:106:106:1*07:107:1*03 1 108il*09tlO"* :1*0

"w-yilO10:1*0naon:l*o12:10 A.M.12:1*01:101:1*02:102:1*03:103:1*0l*il*05:10*> jl*0do6:1*07:107:1*08:108:1*09:109:1*0

10:1010:1*0llilO11:1*012:10 P.M.12:1*01:101:1*02ilO2:1*0

Head onffetr - 'Inches

7-VU7-1/1*7-Vi*7-VU7-1/1*7-1/87-1/86-7/86-7/86-3A6-^/86-5/86^/86-1/26-3/86-3/86-3/86-3/86-3/8^ 6-3/85-1/1*5l*-5/8)j-V2l*-l/2U-5/8U-3/8l*-l/2l*-3/8" l*-3/8l*-iAi*-3/8U-5/85-VU5-7/86-3/86-3/87-V87-VU7-3/87-V27-S/87-^87-|/87-5/87-3A7-3A7-3/1*

FlowQ.P.U.

32532532532532531231228628627326126126121*923723723723723723711*7130107100100107

9310093938793107U*7191*237237312

325339351*369369369369381*381*381*

SampleSize Id.

6565656565626257575U525352501*71*7U71*71*71*72926a2020a1920191917192129391*71*762656871Ih71*71*71*777777

Sunraaryi Average Flow a 21*3.3 gallons per minuto• 350,352 gallons per day

•\ucust 6-7, 1952

SEWAGE FLOW DXIA.National Pressure Cooker Company - Eau ClaireStation #3 - Pump Discharge

6" Rectangular ffeir

Time

3:20 P.M.3:504:201*:505:205:506:206*507:207i508:208«50^20^:50

10:2010:5011:2011:5012:20 A.M.12:501:201:502:202:503:203:501:20li:50J :20

^:506:206:507:207:508:208:509:209:50

10:2010:5011:2011:5012:20 P.M.12:501:201:502:202:50

Head on .Weir -Inches

7-1/8. 6-5/85-3A5-^85-5/85-1/25-5/85-5/85-5/85-1/25-3/85-3/85-iAU-l/80n 7/87/80^113-1/800

3-lA3-lA2-3/82-7/8- 2-7/83-3/83-3/8hU-5/86-1/27-1/27-1/27-1/27-lA6-3A7-lA7-1/26-3A76-3A&-3A6-7/86-3A6-3A7

FlowGPU Sanple „ Remarks

Size Ml. ptl

2612liO200195195190195195195190181;18U1791310 0 Punp off1*20 Weir box overflowed111 Small floirlii Small flow0 0 Pump offU20 flblp box overflowed890 0 Punp off0 0 Pump off9li9k61

7979999913115223227627627626622*2662762UU 5.72552U* 6.321* . 5.72U9 6.32lk 6.3 Grease in weir box21* U.7255 6.3

Summary: Average flow 180.6 gallons per minute260,061; gallons per day

NATIONAL PKESSU3E COOKEtt , PANT'.1B1H INSTALLATION

Station //3 - Stillin^-basin Station //3 - and 6-inchrectangular woir

Looking south from Station //3to culvert

NATIONAL PltSSSURE COOKEil COMPANYffEIR INSTALLATION AND LAGOON

Station #2 - Dan and 90° v-notch'"~weir at culvert

Station It'2 - 90° v-notch vroir

Looking south fromStation #2 - wastes flowto west from this point

Lagoon - approximately 100 footsouthwest from Station //2