An Economic Balance to Control of
Stream Pollution
JOHN M. FAIRALL, Chemical Engineering Consultant
U. S. Public Health Service
Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center
Cincinnati, Ohio
INTRODUCTION
In a previous paper (1) the author made the statement: "Trends in industrial
waste treatment are the results of economic balances. In the process industries,
it is the practice not to recover waste materials unless the value of the recovered
material exceeds the cost of recovery. When we consider the economic value of
the receiving stream, however, we add another value, and it may become more
desirable to reduce or recover process wastes. If it is not economical to reduce
wastes, then they must be treated to reduce the amount of pollutants going to the
stream." This paper presents the ideas resulting from giving .farther consideration to the value of a stream in the free enterprise system. The remarks are
limited to the case of industrial wastes being discharged directly to the stream
rather than being discharged through a municipal sewage treatment plant; the
philosophy is adaptable, however, to other situations of waste discharges.
PRESENT WASTE CONTROL
Present water pollution control agencies have been established either by interpretation of existing laws or by special legislation. Waste control agencies
have developed as part of a state department of health or by exercise of the
police power of the state to control nuisances, or by new legislation establishing
additional responsibilities for the department of health or else creating a pollution
control board. In some cases where a river basin includes parts of two or more
states, interstate water pollution control boards have also been established. In
water pollution control activities three interested groups have risen, namely:
the government as a pollution control agency, the management of the industrial
plant, and the people of the state.
First among the interested groups are the water pollution control agencies
that have largely carried out their activities through education and cooperation
with the polluters of public waters and with the water users. In some cases, the
poUution control agencies have established stream standards, either published or
as unwritten guidelines. In other cases, streams have been classified following
public hearings in which all three interested groups may have been heard. A
third type of control used by some agencies is the establishment of effluent
standards for particular industries or for single industrial plants. Representation
of the public on these pollution control boards is often accomplished by appointment of board members from various subcategories, such as from public health,
conservation, agriculture, highways, industries, and municipalities. Another
means of attaining results in the control of pollution of streams is for the control
agency to take action in the courts, where all issues may be heard. There have
been occasions (not necessarUy in the courts) when the question has been raised
whether these agencies have adequate knowledge of the economic situations they
are regulating.
The second group interested in water poUution control activities is industrial
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