Diesel disposal

laika

laika

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I appear to have a diesel problem as I've come to the boat for the first time since lockdown to discover 10l of diesel in the bilge. I'll investigate the source of the problem tomorrow when I feel less queasy but for now I have 10l of dirty diesel/ water in 2x5l water containers. The local tip says they don't take diesel. The marina have no idea what to do with it but say it can't go in the waste oil. Suggestions which don't involve things I don't have like a farmer or filters, or transporting to anyway further than a long walk from Brighton marina? If the only option is to pay a garage for disposal, anyone know how much it should cost?
 
Take it to the site as though it is engine oil. Diesel is not flamable in the way petrol or solvents are.


What you can take to our recycling sites and where to find them

"You can take these items to the recycling sites: general garden waste
  • timber
  • MDF and wood composites
  • scrap metal
  • engine oil
  • plasterboard - four sheets removed
  • hardcore, rubble, ceramics and soil - six standard rubble bags a month - maximum bag size 55cm x 85cm
  • household hazardous chemicals - must be in a secure container
  • paint"
 
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OK to go in the waste oil tank - at least in the marina I used. contractor says OK but petrol verboten!
 
Tranona said:
contractor says OK but petrol verboten!
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This is what I’d heard before but whilst I could understand the people I spoke to at the marina getting it wrong, the tip’s website explicitly says engine oil yes but no diesel so there’s clearly a reason. I was wondering if it made recycling harder. I’d be less worried if it was the usual jam jar full spill from changing filters but with 10l I want to do the environmentally responsible thing (whatever that is)
 
Do you not have a Mr Funnel filter?

Even standing the diesel in a couple of containers for a few days would separate the fuel from the water. If you are unhappy about putting it back in the tank do you know anybody with a diesel heater that could use it?
 
laika said:
This is what I’d heard before but whilst I could understand the people I spoke to at the marina getting it wrong, the tip’s website explicitly says engine oil yes but no diesel so there’s clearly a reason. I was wondering if it made recycling harder. I’d be less worried if it was the usual jam jar full spill from changing filters but with 10l I want to do the environmentally responsible thing (whatever that is)
Click to expand...
When I asked before tipping it the yard says that the recycling process separates it out from the oil. Anyway I put 20l or so in and there was no comeback.
 
Leave it to settle, you should be able to recover most of it.
I thnk I'd feed it to a heater rather than an engine that I cared about.
If it was whie, I'd filter it and put it in the car with plenty of new stuff.
 
laika said:
I appear to have a diesel problem as I've come to the boat for the first time since lockdown to discover 10l of diesel in the bilge. I'll investigate the source of the problem tomorrow when I feel less queasy but for now I have 10l of dirty diesel/ water in 2x5l water containers. The local tip says they don't take diesel. The marina have no idea what to do with it but say it can't go in the waste oil. Suggestions which don't involve things I don't have like a farmer or filters, or transporting to anyway further than a long walk from Brighton marina? If the only option is to pay a garage for disposal, anyone know how much it should cost?
Click to expand...
Your profile indicates you live in London. If so I suggest you contact: Hazardous waste collection - City of London with a view to taking the diesel home and getting them to collect it (together with any other nasties you may have in your garage!)

A free service . I used them a few years ago to get rid of unwanted paraffin, dirty white spirit, other solvents and old paint.
 
Some years ago I had around 100 litres diesel mixed with seawater . I put it in clearish 25 litre containers in the garden for a few months then syphoned off the diesel. It worked really well and the diesel was very clear. Odd that the red diesel went from red to nearly clear.
Added a bit of conditioner and put it in my tank. Never any problems.
 
If you tell the guys at the tip it's diesel, they'll nutlet you ut it in the waste oil. Don't ask how i know. Fortunately I only had a couple litres which started a few bonfires in the garden.
 
Poignard said:
Your profile indicates you live in London. If so I suggest you contact: Hazardous waste collection - City of London with a view to taking the diesel home and getting them to collect it (together with any other nasties you may have in your garage!)
Click to expand...

Thanks all for the suggestions. Unfortunately I don't have a garage and having once been kicked off a tube train for having a proper petrol can of petrol I don't think the railways will appreciate me taking 10l of red diesel back in plastic water containers. I also don't have a garden or a diesel car and my heater runs from the main tank. I'll have a word with the local marine engineering outfit tomorrow. Last resort will be the engine oil receptacle.
 
I have also put diesel in a waste oil tank and didn't ask first. The trick is not to ask !
There is a separate tank for oily water at our marina.
Waste oil is presumably reprocessed so does it matter if some diesel and some water is mixed in?
 
We’ve all done it (in with the oil recycling)...! Otherwise diesel can be fiendishly difficult to get recycled for free in many areas.

The way I see it, sometimes I dump very clean oil at the tip (just various used engine oil). But sometimes it’s a nasty mixture for whatever reason (diesel, brake fluid, solvents, etc.). The former always outweighs the latter by a large margin, for me, so I figure it cancels out in the end!
 
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