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Is this an oil separator?

B

bert79

Active member
Hello all,
As I've posted before my dad and I just purchased a 3+1 rehab project. We cleaned out the four pits this morning. It wasn't too bad. We're drying out the sludge in the bays and our disposal company takes the dry dirt with the garbage. After cleaning out the pits we were about to start cleaning out the basin that sits behind the building. I thought this may be an oil separator. It has a circular cover. Below the cover is a vertical shaft made of brick that extends approximately 3 feet down. The water level sits just below the brick shaft, at the top of the outlet pipe. The basin appears to flare out below the brick. The sludge seems to be more oily in this basin, as opposed to the bay pits and there seems to be more oily sheen to the surface of the water. If I'm right and this is an oil separator, what are people paying to have these pumped out? Does anyone have anything similar at their wash? It would have been nice if they made them more user friendly but maybe they weren't thinking about that in the 1980's... I will TRY to post some pictures. Any info/help is appreciated. Thanks!

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https://photos-5.dropbox.com/t/2/AA...ceKzC4nGp-jqyMio6Q8?size=1280x960&size_mode=3

https://photos-6.dropbox.com/t/2/AA...V6RgcdcXZx1wSfQjOIE?size=1280x960&size_mode=3

https://photos-5.dropbox.com/t/2/AA...7XLDYrmdu-rdK-K6vtI?size=1280x960&size_mode=3
 
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Can't view the pictures, just get the message below.

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Idk about oil separators, somebody else should chime in on that.
I have something similar at my wash, mine is simply an access point that sits between my wash and the public sewer. Mine is about 4 to 5' deep.
 
Yes I would have to say that is an oil water separator. It looks like it got a lot of oil in it. You’re going to have to call the boys in the moon suits to come pump it out. Call around and get some prices, you might be in sticker shock, it cost us $2500 the last time we had ours pumped with the required tested and certifications.
 
It allows the oil to float on the water which flows out the bottom, but yes eventually the oil will go into the sewer.
 
Since it's hard to tell how much oil is in there you my be able to get some oil absorbing "socks" throw them in there one by one and see if you can get most of the oil out. You can even leave one in and chge it out monthly.
 
you can pour oil dry into the pit allow it time to absorb oil then it sinks to the bottom then you can clean out the pit. Also if it is not alot of oil, break up styrofoam into smallish pieces and throw it in there for a few hours then scoop them out, the oil is attracted to the styrofoam.
 
Thank you Randy. I will be calling around for prices. I will update when I find out. The picture is a little deceiving. The water is not as oily as it appears in the photos. I think the reflection makes it look that way. The sludge at the bottom does seem more oily however. Thank you all for responding. This blog has been so helpful to us and I really appreciate you all. Thank you.
 
Just an update as I have learned more. It is in fact an oil separator, but most of you knew that already. I have called around and have a professional industrial waste company coming next week. Their charges are $130 (set delivery fee). Plus 45 cents/gallon. The company deals with car wash pit/seperator waste on a regular basis. He estimated how much waste is in the basin and guessed that the cost for removal would be around $500. I was happy with that. Just wanted to update. Thanks
 
Be to come back and let us know what the total invoice is when they get done. I think you might be in for a surprise. $500 is pretty cheap.
 
I will definitely update after the job is done with final cost and gallons pumped. There is only about 2.5-3’ of water/ sludge in the bottom.
 
An update on cost of pumping out our oil separator. It was pumped by an environmental waste company with a vacuum truck. The final bill was $382.50. The breakdown is $135 X 2 hours (pickup and delivery time) plus $112.50 for 250 gallons at .45/gallon. We were very happy with that. He said he could pump everything at our wash (1 IBA bay pit, 3 ss bay pits and the oil separator) for $800. Just wanted to update. Thanks to you all for the advice.
 
Etowah
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