How to Actually Dispose of Your Acrylic Paint Water

If you guys know me, you are aware that I work mostly in acrylic paint. It is a medium I am very comfortable with and have been working with for years. And although I try and be earth conscious it is not lost on me that my medium of choice is made of chemicals and microplastics. Thats what the name acrylic means obviously, plastic.

So, for years I have been painting with it and for a few years I have been trying to figure out ways to waste less paint and stop it from going in landfills. I have been conscious of how much paint I’m using, using a stay-wet pallet (here is a link to buy your own OR here is a link on how to make one at home), even saving all my paint chips to try and use them in a mosaic style art piece. But there was one thing I was overlooking to an extreme and that was my used paint water.

Did you know it is actually illegal to dump your paint water down the drain? I did not know that for years. You are supposed to separate the paint from the water and harden he paint solids so you can dispose of them in the garbage (or reuse them for another project!). It is illegal to dump acrylic rinse water into local water ways, on the ground or down sewers because it is harmful to wildlife.

In my “research” (mindlessly scrolling my TikTok algorithm) I came across a video on exactly how to separate paint from water. I also found an article on another way to separate rinse water for other types of acrylic paint such as wall paint