pounds of gold and silver found in Switzerland sewage

HannibalNectar

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I ALWAYS see these spectacular finds on the internet but this one is unreal to me.
Its says something like 90 pounds of gold and what really got my attention was 6,600 pounds of silver! All down the toilets of Switzerland. You would think they could get it out and make a profit. 3million annually? I wonder what it would cost to get it out?
Crazy right?

http://time.com/4977446/gold-switzerland-sewage-study/
 
Thanks for posting - the article doesn't say that anyone is actually recovering the gold and silver, just that it's potentially recoverable. Might be worthwhile to check the grit chamber where most of the heavy stuff drops out.
 
Interesting and strange. Last note in the article referring to consolidated metals from Hair Care Products and socks sounds quite awkward :lol::?::yes:
 
I ALWAYS see these spectacular finds on the internet but this one is unreal to me.
Its says something like 90 pounds of gold and what really got my attention was 6,600 pounds of silver! All down the toilets of Switzerland. You would think they could get it out and make a profit. 3million annually? I wonder what it would cost to get it out?
Crazy right?

http://time.com/4977446/gold-switzerland-sewage-study/

Short answer, it would cost more than digging the stuff out of the ground, or refining contacts on computer electronics. Way too low concentration to be worthwhile from an economical, energy, or environmental standpoint.

Thanks for posting - the article doesn't say that anyone is actually recovering the gold and silver, just that it's potentially recoverable. Might be worthwhile to check the grit chamber where most of the heavy stuff drops out.

Trust me, the people that actually have enough of the good stuff going down the drain in a business type environment are already doing this. Even the floor sweepings are sold for big bucks, dirt and all.

I do remember a forum member posting that he detected the waste 'grit' piles in his city and would often find lost jewelry and such.
 
I just went to my local sewage treatment facility just down the street, gear in hand. They would not let me in but I did notice they were smiling and I swear I saw multiple ctx 3030s strapped jut above the inlet? :lol::laughing:
 
Thanks for posting - the article doesn't say that anyone is actually recovering the gold and silver, just that it's potentially recoverable. Might be worthwhile to check the grit chamber where most of the heavy stuff drops out.
So, if no one is recovering it, how do they come up with the numbers?
 
We have seen some interesting posts along this line of thought that makes a guy consider just how much Gold/Silver jewelry and coins are in waste pipes...

Cupajo once got a call to retrieve a gold ring that got flushed...He actually recovered it...Good Story...it made it all the way to the septic tank...Another poster takes his Garrett Carrot along when he is on business trips and staying in Hotels...he quickly checks the undersink plastic trap for earrings, small chains, etc that get accidentally washed down the drain in the sink, and caught in the 'P'trap...easy retrieve, no tools required to unscrew an undersink trap and dump out the goods...

I myself once made a tool out of a bent spoon attached to a long supple willow branch, fished it into the basement washing machine old iron pipe drains, and raked out enough money to buy a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk..

So yeah...lots of Gold and Silver down in the sewer waste pipes, hung up in the joints or traps......if a guy could figure out a way to get at it easy with a little robot retriever or something, it could be a viable concept....Lots of Gold rings get flushed down the toilet in a fit of rage, and if they get hung up in some paper swaddling, could travel a ways, not all the way to the waste water plant, but they will surely settle out somewhere along the way though......Theres about no way they will ever be found unless accidentally during an Infrastructure upgrade.. ...

Someday, somebody will make a massive gold haul out of a specific under ground sewer sump or trap that caught everything out of an old neighborhood...probably 50 rings settled into one little pocket, pile of old coins, gold teeth, imagine....
 
You would be amazed at what the NYC sewer workers pull out of the sewers in terms of gold, silver, old coins, etc.

Its actually a seldom thought about subject BKC..what people flush...flashback...One Summer, I was the 'hose boy, septic tank cap popper' on a rural pump out truck..My boss was a Nice and happy guy, Out we would go honey dippin daily, no dress code required...He paid me well..He even had a slogan he loved to say to his clients whilst pulling the pay....."Thank you! Your Krap is my bread and butter!":laughing:

Indeed it is a lucrative business plan to consider, steady route, interesting visuals, etc..You pretty much know whats going on inside a specific household and the personal hygiene product preferences by the contents exuded from the tank...For instance...


Bachelor guy down the road preferred Wendys or BurgerKing free napkins all these years? Evidently got married in May.... 1500 gallons ago!! And now we are dealing with 3 ply sheets, cotton ponies, floating Trojans bubbling up like like a Miami Beach Man O' War migration?....Dahell? I never even got an invite to the reception!

You pop the concrete cap off a tank as a septic tank hose boy? ...Take a good long look at the task set before you...and say to yourself.."damn!.. there but for the grace of God go I":laughing:
 
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The "pounds" of gold and silver that end up in the waste water that this article is referring to, are silver nanoparticles that are used to make odor resistant clothing, or health supplements that contain trace amounts of gold or silver. This gold and silver is not in the solid form, think colloidal silver. There is no viable way to date to recover these metals, since the concentration of minerals in the !!!! is so low, but you get hundreds of pounds estimates because of the volume of people and waste water.
On the flip plenty of people do send jewelry down the pipe on accident, never thought to bring a pinpointer and check when I stay in a hotel.
 
I remember a Gold Fever episode with one of the Massey sons and they panned for gold in the drainage ditches in Las Vegas. They were finding all kinds of gold using a sniffering tool (think big syringe) to pull out dirt/sand from the cracks.

Amazing where you can find gold
 
Thinking of tv shows, I recall one where they used a shop vac on the sidewalk outside of a place where they smelt or mint gold and then panned the contents. Got some decent flour gold just from people shoes carrying it out.
 
I just went to my local sewage treatment facility just down the street, gear in hand. They would not let me in but I did notice they were smiling and I swear I saw multiple ctx 3030s strapped jut above the inlet? :lol::laughing:

:laughing::laughing:,..thatsfunny..
 
When Beloved and I rented a 2 bedroom house that had JUST been vacated (and not cleaned!) by a family with a three year old boy, you better BELIEVE I hit that P joint in the bathroom and kitchen sinks!!
Got nearly $5.00 in coins, a sterling silver bracelet, a couple of corroded toy cars, an earring and a metric ton of hair!

ANY time you have relatives with toddlers... hit the sinks!! And the toilet! Kids flush or drop stuff down into the plumbing like mad!

Oh yeah... also got a beautiful carnelian bracelet from the toilet tank!! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!

Sage(glad I never had kids!)Grouse
 
Bah! they're talking about the possibility of recovering nano gold and silver. Same as the desalination plants making fresh water out of salt water. They also recover gold and silver but its hardly economical. Lots of disolved metals in sea water and now we know there's lots in poop too!
 
Japan has the same #s. Toilets are/were designed differently a couple decades ago. Once it drops down the hole it's impossible to recover without getting your feet wet
 
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