This guidance is relevant to you if your business activities involve cleaning vehicles. This includes using wheel washes to clean the wheels and undercarriage of vehicles.
Good practice
Use vehicle washing facilities and equipment that filter and reuse water, or set up a wash water recycling system.
In England, Northern Ireland and Wales, use SUDS to control surface water run-off from your vehicle cleaning areas.
Environment Agency: Sustainable Drainage Systems (England and Wales)
CIRIA: Information on SUDS
- Ensure that all areas where liquids are stored or cleaning is carried out are in a designated impermeable area that is isolated from the surrounding area, eg by a roll-over bund, raised kerb, ramps or stepped access.
- Use collection systems to prevent any contaminated drainage entering surface water drains, watercourses or groundwater, or draining onto the land.
- Minimise the amount of cleaning chemicals you use.
- If you use detergents, choose biodegradable and phosphate-free products as they are less harmful to the environment.
- Use trigger-operated spray guns and make sure that they have an automatic water-supply cut-off.
- Treat waste water from vehicle cleaning before you dispose of it.
- Remove oil, grease, petrol and diesel from wash water by passing it slowly through an appropriately sized oil separator. If the separator is too small, the speed of flow is too great or the separator is poorly maintained it will not work effectively.
- Ensure that any discharge containing detergent cannot run to the oil separator as this will stop it working. If you use detergents, use a recycle system with no discharge or ensure that any run-off containing detergents is collected in a sealed unit. Contact your local water and sewerage company or authority for requirements and guidance on disposing any of these materials to foul sewer.
- Use settlement lagoons or suitable absorbent material such as flocculent to remove suspended solids such as mud and silt. Before using flocculent, contact your water and sewerage company or authority to make sure that you can still discharge to sewer.
- Ensure that all staff are trained and follow your vehicle cleaning procedures. Post details of the procedures in the work area for easy reference.
- Use catchpots or silt traps on drains and ensure that they are in place during cleaning. Empty them at regular intervals.
