MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

What is the correct way to dispose of pond water samples after I finish with them. I usually keep them a few days, view them, and then throw the water out. Should I just dispose of it in the sink. Or, should I discard it outside. I am not talking about samples heavy with bacteria -- just typical pond samples with Rotifers and the other usual suspects. Does it matter?

jgeez,
I throw mine in my house plant's container.
If I had a lot and no house plants I'd throw it on the ground outside.

UPDATE- Maybe throw it outside cause could have larvae from various mosquitos etc... in it.
You don't want to look up and see a dragon fly in your bedroom!

Hi, mine go back into the pond when I go for fresh samples. Not for any other reasons that it’s probably the safest place to dispose of them.

I dispose samples from freshwater ponds simly in one of my pond aquariums. I habe posted here before how I set them up.

Down the sink is fine - keep in mind, every time you flush your toilet after going "number 2" that you are putting a massive bolus of bacteria - many of them pathogenic - into the sewage system. The organisms in your pond water samples are in minute numbers/concretions compared to even the smallest of faeces, are rarely pathogenic, are part of the natural environment, and are unlikely to survive sewage treatment anyways.

As others have suggested, mine normally go down the drain or out in the garden. A different scenario, however: recently I enriched a couple of bowls of pond water with a little juice from some raw chicken meat. Often that works well to increase the numbers of protozoa. This time, however, I overdid it and ended up with two ugly, stinky bowls of bacterial overgrowth. Probably harmless, but I wasn't excitied about any possibility of spilling the goup on my hands during disposal. Pouring in plenty of isopropyl alcohol to (mostly) sterilize the water made disposal less worrisome. Chlorox would also probably do the job.

I agree with many fellow posters: nourish your indoor potted plants with these 'imported area treats', or out doors on your grasses or bushes.

I strongly disagree with useing your kitchen sink, or toilet...a matter of keeping your silverware and dishes far from collected outdoor samples...and keeping your homes 'plumbing' free from aggressive communities.

I have a special , decades old culture maintained at my two microscopy benches..if a slide has organisms keenly dear to my fancy...that slide washed-off into this 'microcosm-culture'...but all sample fluids nourish our indoor plants.

charlie g.