ABSTRACT
The aim of hazardous waste treatment is to transform hazardous wastes into something less hazardous or to reduce greatly their volume. The metallic sludges generated as a by-product of the metal-finishing, electroplating, and printed circuit board industries often come from these industries’ pretreatment of liquid wastes, with the treated liquids then discharged to the sewer. Drum storage and transfer facilities accumulate small volumes of wastes from various generators. Once volumes accumulate, these facilities contract with haulers periodically to take these wastes elsewhere for recycling, treatment, incineration, or disposal. Usually, transfer stations are a central location for collecting wastes from generators in a particular area. Physical treatment processes separate water from the rest of the waste stream or prepare liquid wastes for further treatment. Organic waste streams are treated by distillation, evaporation, steam stripping, gravity settling, flotation centrifuging, reverse osmosis, carbon/resin adsorption, or solvent extraction.
