End of road in sight for car wash waste

A recent planning application submitted by the Department of Transport, at the request of the Department of Local Government and the Environment, if approved, should finally provide a secure disposal route for what has become a problematic waste.

A prohibition was placed on the disposal to landfill of the waste collected in interceptor tanks when Wrights Pit East was closed by the Government, and since then no satisfactory replacement disposal route had been identified.

Allowing the waste to be mixed in with the sewage waste going to Meary Veg was not an option as the works' discharge license prohibits discharge to sea of fats, oils and grease.

The proposal is for the waste, the majority of which is water contaminated with oils, will be transported in tankers to Meary Veg. There it will be slow filtered, to remove the oil, in a piece of equipment similar to that found on ships before the water is discharged.

The collected oils and fats will be placed in an IBC, a specially designed tank, and transported for final disposal in the secondary line at the incinerator.

A spokesman for the Drainage Division said he was only expecting three to four, 5 cubic metre, tankers in a six month period and that this would not interfere with the operation of the existing treatment works.