From this month, car washing businesses will now have no excuse for allowing run-off to pollute waterways after the Environment Agency published new good-practice guidance. In conjunction with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), they have produced new Pollution Prevention Guidelines (PPG 13), which cover all methods of vehicle washing and cleaning, including automatic wash systems, washing by hand and using high pressure or steam cleaners.
The Environment Agency's Pollution Prevention Advisor, Teresa Brown said, "Run-off from washing vehicles, particularly on a commercial scale, contributes to diffuse pollution that puts our wildlife at risk. If you discharge trade effluent - such as water contaminated with oil, detergents or sludge - into the environment or into drains without permission, you are breaking the law. Dirt, brake dust, traffic film residues and oil that are washed off vehicles are all pollutants. Cleaning detergents and chemicals that are used, even those labelled biodegradable, can also be very poisonous to river life."
The run-off produced from vehicle washing carried out as a business or industrial activity is classified as trade effluent, and must be dealt with appropriately. The new guidelines will include easy to follow advice on where you should and should not clean vehicles; obligations regarding discharges to public sewers; drainage systems; resource efficiency and waste minimisation and cleaning up chemical spills.
