Trans World Airlines
Waste Treatment Plant Flexibility
ROBERT L. GARRETT, Chemical Solution Analyst
and
DANIEL W. BRENNAN, Mechanic Operator
Disposal Plant
Trans World Airlines
Kansas City, Missouri
The first step in establishing a successful treatment for industrial wastes
is a survey which determines the amount and character of the waste material
under consideration. Thus might begin many papers or articles intended to
guide any company about to enter the field of waste treatment. Those same
papers might also suggest that careful attention to many in-plant practices
will materially reduce the problems involved. Segregation of waste materials,
good housekeeping, the possibility of substitution of less troublesome chemicals, and various other "internal controls" are proven solutions to many of
the situations which arise when waste treatment becomes a "must. " There is
no quarrel with such ideas nor doubt as to their soundness in planning a new
treatment plant. We do, however, offer our own case to illustrate another
consideration in the design and operation of such a plant with the trust that
this one principle will complement rather than conflict with the views of
others. If there is to be one word to express the general theme of this paper,
it is "flexibility."
Trans World Airlines has undergone the same realization of the necessity
of waste treatment as have dozens ofother companies which market a product.
With TWA, service is the only product. The necessity for pollution control
made it evident that this service must extend, not only to the air traveler,
but to the neighbors who form the community in which we exist. This was the
prime factor in the establishment of a modern waste treatment plant at the
Kansas City Overhaul Base, which is the headquarters of the airline.
TWA's entrance into industrial waste treatment began a few years earlier
when the Plating Shop was established as a section of Power Plant Overhaul.
With the move to the new overhaul base in March, 1956, this department
probably expanded as much or more than any of the other sections of Technical Services.
From the first day of operation at Mid-Continent Airport, the Plating
Shop was provided with an adequate waste treatment plant designed to function as an integral part of plating activities and operated by Plating Shop personnel. All wastes from the shop are fed directly to disposal through two six-
inch sewers and every effort is made in the shop to segregate both concentrated
waste solutions and contaminated rinse waters into the proper pipe according
to the nature of the material. The two streams are generally designated
alkaline and acid waste, although the principle methods of treatment are
concerned with oxidation of cyanide and reduction of hexavalent chromium.
Although the treatment is classed as a "flow through" type of treatment a
retention tank is provided for each type of waste. These are located in the
basement of the control building.    Under normal conditions, the tanks will
- 140 -