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Oil Water Separators – 3 Key Factors

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Oil Water Separators are designed for contaminated trade waste and wash down water treatment. They are an essential ingredient for wastewater treatment for auto workshops, hire and leasing companies and mine sites before the water can be compliant for discharge to the Council sewers. When investing in or upgrading an Oil Water Separator, businesses should consider these 3 key factors: understand trade waste costs, understand compliance requirements and understand project & site requirements that will ultimately help them choose the right OWS for their business.

Trade Waste Costs

Businesses producing trade waste are charged on “polluter pays’ system, which means that the party responsible for producing the pollution is responsible for paying the damages done to the natural environment. Therefore, it is important for a business to understand the relationship between water entering their property through the water meter, the volume of water used in production, and the volume and quality of trade waste discharged to the sewerage system. Simply put, the more water you discharge to sewer, and the more contaminants there are in the water, the more money it costs for your business.

Investing in the right pre-treatment system and ensuring that it is serviced regularly is essential to improving the quality of the trade waste. It results in long term financial savings for your business.

Understanding Compliance Requirements

Every business discharging trade waste to council sewers is required to apply for an approval. A trade waste approval is a legal contract between the property owner, the business owner renting the property and the City Council. Assessment for approval is made by reviewing business processes, pre-treatment of waste on the premises before discharge to sewer, the environmental impacts on the sewage treatment process, the permissible quantity and rate of the waste. Failure to comply to terms and conditions may result in the approval being suspended, cancelled or additional charges may be invoked.

Council guidelines for pre-treatment equipment could include grease arrestors or oil water separators, depending on the type and quantity of contaminants in the wastewater. Oil water separator pre-treatment options provided by Enviro Concepts could include:

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Project vs. Site Requirements

At Enviro Concepts, we receive daily enquiries about oil water separator design for clients in the auto industry, car rental companies, mechanical workshops, car wash businesses, hire and rental business, truck and bus wash businesses and mine sites. Site requirements, design, and system specification, the quality of output water required and many other factors are therefore different for different businesses and are therefore important to take into consideration while specifying an OWS.

To give businesses a better understanding of their wastewater treatment and design requires, we have compiled a free downloadable checklist. It is important to have this information at hand when looking to invest in a new Oil Water Separator system or upgrading a current project.

The SIOS complete system solution

Ticking all the 3 boxes, costs, compliance and customization according to site requirements, Enviro Concept’s SIOS (Solids Interceptor Oil Separator) System helps businesses remove oils, grease and solids in their wastewater, making the water compliant for discharge into the sewer. The system is above ground, portable and skid-mounted. The SIOS contains a tank, Oil Water Separator, pump, skid mount, electrical switch isolator with pump and float connection, all packaged in one. Available as SIOS 25, 50, 100 (capacity of 25L/m, 50L/m, 100L/m), the system can be customised for projects of various sizes, capacities and for various industries. For more information on the SIOS, download our specification sheet or visit the SIOS page.

We are happy to take your OWS questions – Contact us.