Having a conversation last week about how methanol is a solvent for the soaps, making a solution, whereas in the bio they are simply in suspension. In a typical batch it could be the case that some of the soaps are dissolved in the meth and some suspended in the bio, which might add some explanation of how bio water washed and 50 / 50 tested can produce a clear or almost clear, then on a subsequent wash and test give a cloudy result.
It kinda resonates with the idea that meth doesn't all get flushed out in one go. When I had the death ray machine, it's one useful feature was the glass inspection window at the front. This allowed the user to see what was going during water washing, it was interesting to see the appearance of the different layers during subsequent washes. It was also useful being able to see the fuel split quickly on the last or last but one wash and produce a perfect line between the bio and the water. I found it so useful that I regularly cleaned it so that I could see what was happening.
Anyway I've been googling to get a better understanding of what might be going on, not there yet but found an interesting bit about how to treat discharge water disposal.
http://make-biodiesel.org/Dealing-with-Byproducts/wash-water-disposal.html Interestingly the tests referred to at the bottom of the page has the meth stripped out before washing.
It would be nice to know for sure that our water wash water is harmless whether it goes over the lawn in the compost or anywhere else
