# oil separator?



## BSSTG (Jul 17, 2015)

Greetings folks,

Well another question or 2 but this one is for an oil separator for a car washing operation. I have never dealt with this before. I looked these up and found some info online. This dude hand washes cars and details them. He's known by the locals to do a good job and I would like to see him open up. He is utilizing a very old gas station bay for the detail work but will hand wash the vehicles outside. A nearby French drain will catch the runoff which leads to the storm sewer. I am not sure that is allowed by the Texas Commsssion on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and will have to find out. I'm inclined to think not. We shall see. I have been asked about this several times over the years and never really got it all figured out.

2012 I Codes BTW

My questions are thus.

If not regulated one way or another by the State, would you allow the runoff with a separator to go to storm sewer?

Are these things very efficient?

Do they have to be serviced periodically?

Are they costly?

How are they sized?

as always, thanksabunch

BSSTG


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## north star (Jul 18, 2015)

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From Section 1003.4 [ `12 IPC ]:* 1003.4 - Oil separators required:*
"At repair garages, *car-washing facilities*, at factories where oily and
flammable  liquid wastes are produced and in hydraulic elevator pits,
separators shall be installed  into which all oil-bearing, grease-bearing
or flammable wastes shall be discharged  before emptying into the
building drainage system or other point of disposal.*"*
*Exception:* An oil separator is not required in hydraulic elevator pits
where  an approved alarm system is installed.*"*

and

from *Section 1004.4.2.2 1003.4.2.2 - Garages and service stations:*
"*Where automobiles are* serviced, greased, repaired or *washed* or where
gasoline  is dispensed, oil separators shall have a capacity of not less than 6
cubic feet  (0.168 m3) for the first 100 square feet (9.3 m2) of area  to be
drained, plus 1 cubic foot (0.28 m3) for each additional 100 square  feet
(9.3 m2) of area to be drained into the separator............Parking garages  in
which servicing, repairing or washing is not conducted, and in which
gasoline  is not dispensed, shall not require a separator...........Areas of
commercial garages utilized  only for storage of automobiles are not
required to be drained through a separator.*"*

If not regulated one way or another by the State, would you allow
the runoff with a separator to go to storm sewer?
No !..........There is always other liquids besides soapy water that will
drain,  ...such as leaking petroleum liquids from the vehicles, not to
mention road tars and asphalt debris accumulated on the vehicles.

Are these things very efficient?
IMO, ...yes !........And they are better than doing nothing.....Draining
various types of hazardous liquids in to the storm sewer is "Verboten !"


Do they have to be serviced periodically?
Yes, because they get filled up with all kinds of debris off of the
vehicles and the surrounding ground surface areas.

Are they costly?
The price varies a lot........Different types of materials & sizes.
I'm thinking that TCEQ might have some literature & guidance as
a starting point in your "due diligence" efforts.........They will
ultimately have to give approval of any type device going in to
capture the wastes anyway.

How are they sized?
There are a variety of sizes,  based upon the amount of flow &
contaminants being introduced in to them.........Again, TCEQ will
be an excellent resource for the project.

Hope this helps !   




Here you go ***StephenH*** !.......An increased Font size.


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## StephenH (Aug 19, 2016)

really hard to understand the font size


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## steveray (Aug 19, 2016)

If he is not cleaning the engines, it seems like he might be off the hook, even under current code. per IPC 1003.4....Beyond that, it seems like it is already approved as a repair garage which would have required it to begin with or it is not really a "change" of level or activity that would require an "upgrade"....Talk to your sewer authority or get their requirements as they usually rule what goes in their pipes...


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## skipharper (Aug 20, 2016)

No different than the girl scouts doing a car wash on a street corner! No separator needed in my opinion and would not concern myself with the soapy water.


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