In a metal finishing facility, how many pounds of dewatered sludge should be manifested as hazardous waste each week if the filter press cake is 25% solids?

To determine how many pounds of dewatered sludge should be manifested as hazardous waste each week from a metal finishing facility where the filter press cake consists of 25% solids, one needs to understand how to calculate the total weight of the sludge based on its solid content.

When the filter press cake is stated to be 25% solids, this means that for every 100 pounds of the cake, 25 pounds are solids and the remaining 75 pounds are liquids (or water). Thus, if the facility produces 1,000 pounds of total dewatered sludge, it would consist of 250 pounds of solids and 750 pounds of liquid.

Using this ratio, if the facility has 1,000 pounds of filter press cake per week, 25% of that being solids means that 250 pounds of the total is hazardous waste. However, if the question is asking about the total weight of the dewatered sludge manifesting as hazardous waste, it's essential to ensure that the entirety of the dewatered sludge is accounted for based on the weekly output.

In calculating the numbers, if we consider that the facility produces 1,000 pounds of sludge every week, including both solids and water, we can understand that all the weight