Waste Oil Tanks

It’s best to hire a professional to clean your tank if it needs heavy maintenance. Some contaminated fuels can be highly toxic to handle without proper safety measures and drainage equipment. Most waste tanks will need to be thoroughly cleaned during the decommissioning process (see below) in which the tank will be taken apart at the seam after being fully drained of all fuel.

There are some legal requirements to consider before fully disposing of any fossil fuel waste. Any detritus in an oil tank should be taken to a licensed disposal site with the necessary facilities to handle the potentially toxic waste. Many have to go through a formal process of decommissioning before the fuel is pumped out, though this is thankfully not an overly complicated process. Many local garages have adequate facilities and professional waste disposal experts on site to deal with oil waste at your convenience.

The decommissioning process includes some careful tests to determine the purity of the fuel inside, including the very bottom layers which tend to house the biggest build-up of sludge and grime. During the pumping process, reusable oil is separated from old and contaminated oil, which is taken to another storage unit and later disposed of in a safe, environmentally conscious fashion.

Oil that has been kept in stasis for long periods of time can strain and degrade under its own weight, creating a thick, viscous sludge at the bottom of the tank it is stored in. Once a waste tank has reached full capacity, it is vital to get a professional to dispose of this bottom-of-the-barrel sludge, since it can be highly toxic and pose a hazardous risk to the environment.

Waste oil tanks are perfect for industrial or domestic use, but owners of these tanks do have to consider some legal rules and regulations regarding how waste oil tanks can be stored or used. These rules can be found in the Control of Pollution Regulations 2001 and are in place to make sure that oil is disposed of safely and legally.

Business owners usually have the most legal responsibilities for storing and disposing of waste oil, namely by complying with local building regulations wherever necessary. Hazardous oil waste cannot be disposed of in civic amenity sites, though some will happily take non-hazardous domestic oils such as cooking oil. It’s always worth asking your local authorities if you have any further queries on waste oil disposal.

Waste oil tanks should be used for different types of oil residue, including:

• Kerosene
• Petrol
• Diesel
• Lubricant oils
• Heating oils
• Vegetable oils
• Agricultural fuel oils
• Non-potable water (non-drinkable)

Toxic, bacteria-infested water tends to naturally accumulate inside oil tanks anyway. However, if you’re looking to dispose of other fuel types that do not fall into these categories, you will have to invest in waste disposal units specified to hold those substances.