What to do with oily bilge water

[stuartwineberg]

I am about to embark on a clean up of the engine bay - probably with one of the dishwasher liquid/hot water combos recommended on the forum. Question is what do I do with the resulting gunge when I pump it up into my Pela. Presumably I can't put it in the oil waste container at the marina as it would damage the oil in there that the recyclers need?

 

[Firefly625]

I am about to embark on a clean up of the engine bay - probably with one of the dishwasher liquid/hot water combos recommended on the forum. Question is what do I do with the resulting gunge when I pump it up into my Pela. Presumably I can't put it in the oil waste container at the marina as it would damage the oil in there that the recyclers need?

Stuart.. well what choice do you have, when I have done the same job and been left with a container of oily water that is where I put it, my thinking is oil recyclers will have the the process of water removal down to a tea as quite often the lid is left open on the mercury oil recycle tank so I assume it gets plenty of rain water in it...

 

[crazy4557]

You can empty it into the oil bund. My marina manager told me that the water is no issue for the recycling plant.

 

[stuartwineberg]

Thanks both - that's very reassuring

 

[LittleSister]

The other way to go about it is to buy an oil absorbing whatsit - e.g. 'Bilge Eel'. They're made of a material (looks a bit like a disposable nappy type of stuff) that absorbs oil but not water. Thye come invarious shapes and sizes. You end up with an oily soft lump that can go in the skip, and the remaining water can be pumped out with the bilge pump.

This was the solution for me when I bought a boat that had previously had a serious oil leak, and the water in the very deep bilge (long keeler) had a substantial layer of oil on it. Bought a Bilge Eel, tied a cord on it so it could be retrieved easily, dropped it in the bilge and was soon sorted.

 

[superheat6k]

The water will separate below the oil and can be drawn off and separated, and if there is no oily residue then it can be returned from whence it came.

However, the firm the marina will use to empty the bunded tank wil likely be charging them to remove the oil waste and provide the necesaery documentation (and no doubt plenty of it). They will then re-process the oil into a valuable product they can sell. So no skin off the nose of the marina really what goes in - oil or water - it costs them the same. I personally question whether the environmental impact of the otherwise unnecesaary paperwork to provide a paper trail exceeds the environmental hazard of the oil itself, especially as the firm wil eventually sell it on for a good profit.

We have oil bunds at our factories and years ago we actually got paid a few pence per litre for the waste oil, which paid for the tea, however, Mr Elfansafety Rams Nebosh Iso14000 put pay to all that. I doubt he saved ever saved any lives by his efforts though !!!

 

[NickTrevethan]

That's where ours went. Into the oil bin. Better there than into the marina.

 

[Firefly625]

Stuart, FYI I fitted one of these a couple of years ago, http://www.asap-supplies.com/marine/bilge-discharge-filters/mycelx-bk1-small-bilge-kleen-filter-system-309101

If giving the bilges a spring clean I would still pump out into a container and dispose in waste oil container , but this unit does a wonderful job and if ever our auto bilge pump comes on I can sit very relaxed in the knowledge that I have not caused an oil slick around us!

 

[stuartwineberg]

Interesting - I haven't seen those before - your boat is amazingly well equipped!

Stuart, FYI I fitted one of these a couple of years ago, http://www.asap-supplies.com/marine/bilge-discharge-filters/mycelx-bk1-small-bilge-kleen-filter-system-309101

If giving the bilges a spring clean I would still pump out into a container and dispose in waste oil container , but this unit does a wonderful job and if ever our auto bilge pump comes on I can sit very relaxed in the knowledge that I have not caused an oil slick around us!

 

[Firefly625]

Interesting - I haven't seen those before - your boat is amazingly well equipped!

And about a tonne heavier than yours…

 

[macnorton]

I have heard of this oil/water mix being poured over the ash at a bonfire site, the oil is trapped in the ash to be burned when the fire is next lit and the water (filtered by the ash) passes through?