United States	Office of Water (WH 550G)	EPA 570/9-91-036J
Environmental Protection	January 1992
Agency
SERA Best Management Practices
For Protecting Ground Water
For Medical Services Facilities
Using Shallow Industrial Waste
Disposal Wells
(Class V Well BMP Fact Sheet Number 2H)
EPA recognizes that oertain Industrial waste disposal practices using drainage wells may pose unacceptable risks
to Underground Sources ot Drinking Water These operations aliow the discharge of Various wastes to a drainage
system neither designed for nor capable of treating them Accordingly, BMPs for industrial Disposal Wells focus
on well closure and alternative disposal methods We have also included BMPs for waste minimization to help
facilities reduoe waste disposal costs, regardless of the disposal method they use In addition local, county, and
State regulations may prohibit use of these wells Note these practices are recommendations only For more
information, contact the person named below
The BMPs listed below apply to medical services facilities. Fact Sheet Number 2 in this
series lists BMPs that are applicable to Industrial Disposal Wells in general (including
those used by medical services facilities), particularly for closure and alternative
disposal.
Waste Minimization
•	Install water demand zone valves to control water use
*	Use reverse osmosis water supply equipment, where technically feasible, to
minimize cleaning requirements tor dialysis machines
~	Use a closed-cycle system to enhance recovery of silver
*	Renew photoprocessing chemicals using replenisher concentrates and regen-
erators
*	Recycle developer using, for example, an ion exchange system or an electrodi-
alysis system
•	Recover silver from photographic equipment using metallic replacement,
electrolytic recovery, chemical precipitation, ion exchange, reverse osmosis,
and/or evaporation
•	Replace instruments containing mercury with electronic instruments
•	Segregate and properly label radioactive wastes
*	Use less hazardous isotypes where possible; for example, use iridium-192 or
cesium-137 needles in place of radium-226 needles

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