Cleaning tidal slipway in Scotland

[NorthRising]

Anyone know:

1) what chemicals are permitted (want to do things by the book)
2) if a discharge consent from SEPA is required?

Thanks

 

[VicS]

Anyone know:

1) what chemicals are permitted (want to do things by the book)
2) if a discharge consent from SEPA is required?

Thanks

There is some advice on on the RYA website pointing you in the direction of the relevant bureaucracy and chemicals that are permitted
Cleaning Slipways | Environmental Advice | Knowledge & Advice | RYA - Royal Yachting Association

Gov. uk seems to suggest high pressure water jetting
Removal of fouling marine life and algae

 

[NorthRising]

There is some advice on on the RYA website pointing you in the direction of the relevant bureaucracy and chemicals that are permitted
Cleaning Slipways | Environmental Advice | Knowledge & Advice | RYA - Royal Yachting Association

Gov. uk seems to suggest high pressure water jetting
Removal of fouling marine life and algae

Thanks. I've seen that guidance it is though England aimed (the MMO and Environment Agency have no jurisdiction in Scottish territorial waters) .

Recent pressure washing has been relatively unsuccessful at shifting the larger fucoids, but maybe we will have another go.

I may ask RYA Scotland if they would be willing to publish equivalent advice.

 

[awol]

Sodium Hypochlorite works (sort of). Acceptable provided risk analysis is done - PPE etc.

 

[Stemar]

Gov. uk seems to suggest high pressure water jetting

That certainly works in Portsmouth Harbour. The council does the public slipway at Hardway a couple of times a year and that keeps it reasonably OK. If they wanted it spotless they'd probably need to do it once a month.

I'm no biologist or chemist, but I can't see the point of chemicals. Either they're really lethal, when you really don't want to be using them near any body of water, or they're going to be washed away twice a day, before they can do their stuff.

 

[NorthRising]

I stumbled onto YouTube and there are some useful videos, and through doing so I have just become aware of a rotary disc pressure washers like this one, so some food for thought.

20" Whirlaway Surface Cleaner For Pressure Washer | 23B

 

[TernVI]

While half the club was arguing about how to get the mains and water to the pressure washer, a couple of us did the job with a yard brush and a bucket.
Bleach etc. can be effective, I don't think it does much harm to the sea, as the sea is full of sodium and chlorine anyway, but it's amazing how many people and their dogs will want to walk on the slipway when you've sprayed it.

Do it before it gets too bad and it's easy.

 

[NorthRising]

While half the club was arguing about how to get the mains and water to the pressure washer, a couple of us did the job with a yard brush and a bucket.
Bleach etc. can be effective, I don't think it does much harm to the sea, as the sea is full of sodium and chlorine anyway, but it's amazing how many people and their dogs will want to walk on the slipway when you've sprayed it.

Do it before it gets too bad and it's easy.

I think there is a good case that it simply hasn't been being done with enough frequency.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Way back in the late 60s, the harbourmaster at Dunbar coated the steps and slip with something that looked like whitewash; it seemed to work and lasted several months before a new application was needed. It may have been whitewash - Calcium Hydroxide (the main ingredient of whitewash) has antibacterial properties and is opaque, so it would block the light getting to the algae. It washed off after a few tides, but I daresay it lasted long enough to kill off the current batch of algae. ISTR (it was a long time ago!) that he applied it 2-3 times during the summer.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I worked at Blairvadach Sailing Centre near Helensburgh and the slipway was cleaned with lime. It was applied at the end of a days activity on a falling tide, brushed in and left to soak, worked a treat; back in the mid 1980's, effective for a long time.

I found this from Brough Bay Association in Caithness Brough Bay Association | Foundation Scotland

Seaweed growing on the slipway was a major problem for the Association. Harbours commonly keep their slipways clear of seaweed by treating them with lime or bleach, however this causes immediate contamination of the marine environment and given the area’s seal colonies and sea bird populations the committee were keen to find an environmentally friendly solution.
An award of up to £1,000 was offered from the Greencoat Stroupster Community Fund to the Committee to allow them to hire a variety of pressure washers to determine whether this approach would be effective. Hiring different washers, a team of volunteers carried out the cleaning operations. The hiring of different machines enabled the group to evaluate different sizes and types of lance and determine which machine would provide the best solution.

 

[awol]

One advantage of sodium hypochlorite over lime is that the lime is very visible where as the bleach is much less obvious.

 

[fien397]

Sodium Hypochlorite works (sort of). Acceptable provided risk analysis is done - PPE etc.

?? that's the stuff. Mix it up strong, put it on using a watering can as the tide goes out, will have a good chance to work its magic then before the tide rinses it. Just be careful of walkers/dogs etc.

 

[TernVI]

One advantage of sodium hypochlorite over lime is that the lime is very visible where as the bleach is much less obvious.

Keeps the swans nice and white too...

 

[Bodach na mara]

It's probably long enough ago for some statute of limitations to apply, so I can reveal that in the 1960s I, and others, used to keep a slipway clear using a combination of lime and sodium hydroxide about once a month in the season. Long before Elfin Safety was heard of and PPE for the job was a pair of wellies. I shudder thinking about it.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

It's probably long enough ago for some statute of limitations to apply, so I can reveal that in the 1960s I, and others, used to keep a slipway clear using a combination of lime and sodium hydroxide about once a month in the season. Long before Elfin Safety was heard of and PPE for the job was a pair of wellies. I shudder thinking about it.

There isn't really a problem with lime - it will be slaked by seawater, so all you get is calcium hydroxide (slaked lime) which doesn't add anything that isn't already there to seawater. Sodium hydroxide is nasty stuff to apply, but equally, you're not adding anything to seawater that isn't already there. But someone with an aluminium boat won't love you!

 

[Fantasie 19]

Recent pressure washing has been relatively unsuccessful at shifting the larger fucoids, but maybe we will have another go.

It's what we use in our club - but we did invest in one of those petrol powered washers - very powerful...

 

[KREW2]

I stumbled onto YouTube and there are some useful videos, and through doing so I have just become aware of a rotary disc pressure washers like this one, so some food for thought.

20" Whirlaway Surface Cleaner For Pressure Washer | 23B

That's what we use, attached to a 4000psi petrol water blaster, works well. For a rough concrete or uneven slipway the larger the wheels the better.

 

[gordmac]

Scrape the stubborn stuff with a hoe?

 

[TernVI]

That's what we use, attached to a 4000psi petrol water blaster, works well. For a rough concrete or uneven slipway the larger the wheels the better.

A powerful pressure washer will often remove bits of the concrete.

 

[KREW2]

A powerful pressure washer will often remove bits of the concrete.

We don't have that problem. Maybe because the water pressure is dispersed through multiple nozzles.