[rb4no]

I am presently acquiring consent to discharge water for my wheelie bin operation. This process involves getting approval to discharge the water which is prefiltered to ensure most solids are taken out and then disposed of in the sewage system at home.

I had an inspector pop by the other day to ensure that the drain I intend to use is indeed a foul drain (sewage) however he noticed that I do other pressure washing activities. He's come back to me and now said that as I'm generating trade effluent through my power washing activities i must therefore dispose of the water the same way!!!  I went through the various examples of work I undertake, i.e. patio and driveway cleaning and vertical surface cleaning like cladding and building cleaning. I said that if I had to take home the water I use then it'll put me out of business!!

Now I already pre filter my water via  a vacuum and filter sock arrangement so as not block the custy's and streets drains but this is ridiculous!!! Has anyone else come across this issue? The chap in question says he's not an expert on this particular matter and will revert he even understands my concerns. But if this is enforced then I've either got to gear up and invest in recycling water (which I already have a good idea on but expensive) or go out of business!!!

Bearing in mind he's saying that any business that has waste water as a by product of their business activity has to dispose of the water in this way and be licensed. Therefore carpet cleaners would need to be licensed as they have waste water, even domestic and office cleaners would need to be licensed as they generate waste water!!!!!

I won't mention the water company for now because the outcome isn't definitive.
any ideas? 

[gwrightson]

........... and i have a carpet cleaning company near me who actualy have a video showing then emptying the soiled water down a street drain.. now either they know some thing i dont or  they  just dont know the rules.

Well they are using  70PSI machine one of the most powerful in the world that cleans 150 ft away  :

Geoff

[Roger Oakley]

I am presently acquiring consent to discharge water for my wheelie bin operation. This process involves getting approval to discharge the water which is prefiltered to ensure most solids are taken out and then disposed of in the sewage system at home.

I had an inspector pop by the other day to ensure that the drain I intend to use is indeed a foul drain (sewage) however he noticed that I do other pressure washing activities. He's come back to me and now said that as I'm generating trade effluent through my power washing activities i must therefore dispose of the water the same way!!!  I went through the various examples of work I undertake, i.e. patio and driveway cleaning and vertical surface cleaning like cladding and building cleaning. I said that if I had to take home the water I use then it'll put me out of business!!

Now I already pre filter my water via  a vacuum and filter sock arrangement so as not block the custy's and streets drains but this is ridiculous!!! Has anyone else come across this issue? The chap in question says he's not an expert on this particular matter and will revert he even understands my concerns. But if this is enforced then I've either got to gear up and invest in recycling water (which I already have a good idea on but expensive) or go out of business!!!

Bearing in mind he's saying that any business that has waste water as a by product of their business activity has to dispose of the water in this way and be licensed. Therefore carpet cleaners would need to be licensed as they have waste water, even domestic and office cleaners would need to be licensed as they generate waste water!!!!!

I won't mention the water company for now because the outcome isn't definitive.
any ideas? 

So are you saying that pressure washing now needs a license for the waste water to go down their drains? Just checked your profile so have an idea which one of the water companies it might be, if it is the one I'm thinking of, then they are not responsible for the waste one of the other London suppliers are.

[rb4no]

Roger I'm not in London and the water company in question deals with both fresh water and sewage. The chap in question was quoting legislation and applying it to the letter however, it is subject to interpretation as legislation are only guidelines in most cases. Their argument is that should contaminents enter the system then the water company would be liable, so at least should i dump something unsavoury down my drains then locating the source would be so much easier and in turn pass the buck onto me! Nonetheless, legislation when applied in industry has to be done in a practical and common way so that if it is possible to undertake something then it should be and if not then the next best way of dealing with it should be implemented. I guess it's all about assessing risk and dealing with it accordingly.

[Roger Oakley]

Ok your profile states London, Anyway it is something that might need to be looked into.
We don't do wheelie bin cleaning so not dumping any waste of that sort down a drain, but cleaning a drive is a different matter, cheers for the heads up, and will look into it.

[rb4no]

hey guys, I would've thought that this thread would've got more replies, I'm concerned what this means if implemented and of course if my water company make me do this then it'll be only a matter of time before they all do cos it's more money for them!!!

The implications for us is either take the water home and dispose of it or recycle and dispose. both of which is going to cost money and no doubt put lots of us out of business cos we'll all have to upscale and that costs money! The other side of the coin is that if you upscale then you get ahead of the crowd...

Anyway, that's my concern........

[Roger Oakley]

I also thought there might have been few more replies, maybe ignorance is bliss, or is it " No one told me about that syndrome" anyway as i said before thank's for the head's up.

[Matt Gibson]

It seems from your first post that this is an existing rule. (You mentioned that he came back to you and told you because you jetwashed you needed a license for the waste water)

Maybe it should be looked into how long its been in place. Might be one of those rules that arent enforced. Im not really sure. But ive had our water company drive past multiple times whilst cleaning a drive and have also have multiple phone calls to them regarding various things and have never heard of it.

Maybe you just got a jobsworth or a newly emplqoyed guy going by the book.

[BDCS]

I would'nt have thought it was anything to do with the sewage provider as they are the worst ones for polluting waterways. I would have thought it would be the EA and they are only bothered when someone expects them. I think its one of those rules thats there to use against us when we are out of order. Waste left on site is not our waste and its the waste owner that is in the wrong if their waste is not disposed of in the correct manor - the issue with us would be when we are paid to dispose of that waste and we did so improperly ie waste transfer note and paper trail.
The difference with bin cleaning is that there is all manor of crap from the bins and that should be disposed of properly - someone ought to mention that to the bin men who leave most of it blowing down the street around here.

[Roger Oakley]

At a guess it could be someone (water auth) were quoting the SUDS regs, which I'm not sure are completely in place.

[rb4no]

OK just received today (Sunday!!!) a letter from my water company enforcing the "Water Resources Act 1991" chapter and verse whereby any "effluents (wash water) derived from a trade process are to be disposed of via a foul sewer consented by the water company to enable the water company to monitor said sewer".

Now in practice it'll be very hard for them to enforce as they don't have many inspectors etc, however I'm a marked man now, my website tells them what I do so I guess I'm on the radar. Should the water company get cute they'll investigate online etc etc and find out others for themselves. I for one don't want to break any rules or laws, however these are guidelines and should be discussed and a compromise found. Should they be draconian in their enforcement then every single business that uses water I guess would fall under these guidelines, from pressure washer guys like us, to office cleaners who dispose of water down loos, to hair dressers for crying out loud who wash hair. The list is endless so some common sense approach needs to be implemented in order for this to work properly.

Any ideas, trade associations or anyone with experience cos if this catches on it'll kill off most of us overnight!!!! I'm thinking of recycling units anyway!!!!  dickie

[BDCS]

I used to work for a soft drink manufacturer and until they closed down last month did their drains. They only want you to put the waste into a foul sewer and that waste should be more or less ph neutral. That factory had a ultra sonic measured channel with ph monitoring. The factory got fined when the ph rose during CIP's and dropped when they dumped acidic products like cola. The sewage company just want you to pay for the waste thats easy for them to deal with.
  Now you've told them you are a potential waste product fly tipper they've sent the standard letter aimed to scare you into disposing of the waste in the correct manor. They probably won't bother you again untill they get dead fish in the local river and that happens to be in your patch. Just keep a diary of what you dump and where with the waste transfer notes all correct. You've got nothing to worry about if you do it all right.

[Great Outdoors]

Interesting post

Now I already pre filter my water via  a vacuum and filter sock arrangement so as not block the custy's and streets drains but this is ridiculous!!! Has anyone else come across this issue?

A company in our home town was warned via Anglian for doing just that .. recovering the water whilst cleaning a driveway and pumping it into a nearby storm drain.
We have introduced recycling works fantastic for the roof cleaning, but still not ideal for block paving cleaning - works but increases time spent due to the sediment recovered.

[rb4no]

Can you elaborate a little on your filtration system and where do you think you'll see yourself going with it in the future?  richard

[johnny bravo]

id guess if you are cleaning a private drive   the householder  are paying water rates   covering there waste water extraction. into there drain.  unless your using toxic cleaning chemicals.

[Gray1]

So if you go to a customer and use their water, on their property, and it soaks away or goes down their drain, Who is responsible for it?
I'm talking pressure washing.

I can understand Bin cleaning as a cocktail of stuff could be in a days worth of cleaning bins with an unknown contents.

It sounds like a 'jobsworth' to me.

Gray1

[Great Outdoors]

Can you elaborate a little on your filtration system and where do you think you'll see yourself going with it in the future?  richard

We have developed this with a local supplier, its trailer mounted as we found it simply not possible to incorporate this within the van including vacuum unit, gen, recovery hoses etc.
There has been some mention of Morcleans WashKube we can achieve similar / better filtration levels, usually we run at 20 microns but we can reduce it to 5 if reqd. This year we will  incorporate vacu boom, plus invest in a compressed air vacuum for oil spills etc.

Personally I cant see an issue with cleaning a driveway as long as you prevent the waste from reaching the highway / road. This can be easilly achieved via recovery then either recycled or pumped onto suitable flower bed or sewage drain.

[Blast Away]

What we can say is, this country has followed the US in many ways and I can see this coming into force just like there. Anything they can make money on they will. There'll be enforcement officers out before you know it.

[chris scott]

 I use/keep one of these in the van http://www.allpumpsdirect.co.uk/rsd-400-pump and recycle the water to the customers flower bed. Any residue that is then left is green binned (green waste).

[rb4no]

Thanks GT , however how do you achieve this, i.e. do you employ a settlement tank with filter socks for example, how do you deal with sludge and the like? cheers.

[Great Outdoors]

Thanks GT , however how do you achieve this, i.e. do you employ a settlement tank with filter socks for example, how do you deal with sludge and the like? cheers.

Vac pre filters, large vortex removes heavy particles drain valve for 'sludge' bagged and removed from site, incorporate various socks in the setup.
As for settlement filter tank 'sort of', in a filter tank, but there is simply not time for the volume of water we displace, we run upto 21lpm, unless you incorporate a huge additional tank (1000+) or your feed tank is huge... simply not pratical. You obviously need time for the settlement to occur. If you leave a vortex overnight the discharged water will be crystal clear.

[rb4no]

Thanks GT,

those vortex filters are they those WaterCo type ones, don't these clean  the water with one pass through ready for reuse? Are they really that good?

I imagine some sort of large solid pre separator or settlement tank, then vortex/ hydrocyclone water filter then polish off with socks down to required size for reuse. This seems quite simple but does it work in practice? dickie