The Present and
Future of Industrial Waste Treatment
GEORGE E. SYMONS, Ph. D, Consultant and Technical Editor
Larchmont, New York
ANALYSIS OF DATA AND DISCUSSION
Questionnaire Replies:
Five separate questionnaires were developed and mailed to seven different classifications of persons interested, or occupied in the industrial waste
field. These classifications were: 1) Consulting Sanitary Engineers, 2) Sanitary Engineering Professors, 3) Stream Pollution Control Agencies, 4) Industrial Waste Treatment Supervisors and Technical Personnel, 5) Editors of
Technical Magazines, 6) Secretaries of Technical Associations, and 7) U. S.
Public Health Service.
Table I summarizes the results of the questionnaire mailings. On the
overall basis, the return of 71 per cent is far above usual expectations. Excluding the Consulting Engineers group, the average return was 85. 7 per cent.
The number of usable returns, however, was lower than expected (average 71.8 per cent), largely because of poor returns ofthe Stream Pollution
Control Agencies. Particularly good were the Consulting Engineers (86.8 per
cent), the Sanitary Engineering Professors (80.0 per cent) and the Industrial
Waste Personnel (100 per cent).
Stream Pollution Control Agencies' replies fell into five groups: 1) No
replies, 2) "No information available, " 3) "Data not tabulated or organized;
therefore not available," 4) "Data not in form required for reply, ' and 5)
"Personnel too busy to prepare reply. "
Seven out of nine Secretaries of Technical Associations replied but none
gave any information, either because "data are not available" or because
"Association policy does not permit release of such information."
The number of replies by Technical Magazine Editors was good but most
of them had no information or data available. Of the four usable replies received, none had extensive data on which to base a reply and only the two
editors of magazines dealing solely with wastewaters gave estimates of future
expenditures.
Industrial waste personnel selected for questionnairing were members of
either the Industrial Waste Committee of Ohe Manufacturing Chemists Association or of the Industrial Wastes Committee of the Water Pollution Control
Federation.
In addition to the questionnaires, a number of persons were interviewed:
Representatives of the American Chemical Society publications staff were interested in the study but could offer no help. Representatives ofthe Manufacturing Chemists Association had no specific data. They stated that even
within their own organization, member companies did not divulge information on their expenditures for industrial waste treatment.   They did say that
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