What to do with waste oil, water & degreaser

[confusedcyclist]

Hello. I'm trying to be more responsible with my waste oil & degreaser, instead of pouring it down the drain or on bare ground and contaminating the land and waterways. What do you folks do with your waste water after cleaning oil from components, assuming it doesn't just end up on the ground after brushing down? My fancy pants ultrasonic cleaner makes collecting the waste water simple as is retained in the tub and I can drain it away any way I choose, but what to do with it? Bottle it and take it to the tip and toss in general waste? Even though cycling is an order of magnitude friendlier to the earth than motoring, the constant maintenance of my bike and waste management is making me feel uneasy, there must be a better way! I fully recognise it's impossible to run a mechanical contraption without some contamination of the environment, how best then to minimise it?

 

[Dogtrousers]

When I clean my bike I use a bucket of water with Flash or washing up liquid in it. The dirty water goes down the drain. When cleaning the chain/gears etc I use a rag/old toothbrush soaked in white spirit or similar. That dribbles on to the garage floor and evaporates or just stays in the rag and evaporates.

That's regular cleaning. More occasionally, if I'm stripping down/regreasing some bearings they sit in a jar of white spirit or similar to clean them. I'm not exactly sure what I do with the dirty white spirit. Probably down the drain, which is v. bad. That's less common these days as I have gathered more and more sealed bearing units over time.

 

[Brandane]

Bottle it and take it to the tip and toss in general waste?

I would have thought that is worse than pouring it down a drain!
Does your local tip not have a separate facility for the disposal of hazardous liquids? Not sure about ours, but I do know they have a tank for used engine oil, which is where I take mine whenever I do oil changes on the car or motorbike.

 

[the snail]

I would suggest minimising the amount of oil you use, cleaning any excess off, and avoid degreaser as much as possible. If you need to degrease components, you can clean them with white spirit, then you can leave the jar of ws to settle out, pour off ws and reuse it.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I would suggest minimising the amount of oil you use, cleaning any excess off, and avoid degreaser as much as possible. If you need to degrease components, you can clean them with white spirit, then you can leave the jar of ws to settle out, pour off ws and reuse it.

Agree, that's the reduce bit of reduce, reuse, recycle.

 

[Chislenko]

I always put cardboard on the garage floor (primarily to protect the floor) before doing any of the dirty jobs. Any dripping oil dirt just soaks into the cardboard, and dries up for next usage.

 

[MichaelW2]

My annual transmission clean generates a lot of mucky water. People use straw or other plant fibres to clean up oil slicks. I wonder if you can filter the water before it reaches the drain.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Real men drink it and use their kidneys to filter out all the nasties. 😬

 

[presta]

I would suggest minimising the amount of oil you use, cleaning any excess off, and avoid degreaser as much as possible. If you need to degrease components, you can clean them with white spirit, then you can leave the jar of ws to settle out, pour off ws and reuse it.

Same here. When I'm cleaning the chain I use recycled WS until the end, then do the final rinse in clean stuff. The same works for cleaning paint brushes, most of the paint settles out but it does leave the WS tinted with solvent, so it's important to use clean for the last rinse.

 

[fossyant]

When I clean my bike I use a bucket of water with Flash or washing up liquid in it. The dirty water goes down the drain. When cleaning the chain/gears etc I use a rag/old toothbrush soaked in white spirit or similar. That dribbles on to the garage floor and evaporates or just stays in the rag and evaporates.

That's regular cleaning. More occasionally, if I'm stripping down/regreasing some bearings they sit in a jar of white spirit or similar to clean them. I'm not exactly sure what I do with the dirty white spirit. Probably down the drain, which is v. bad. That's less common these days as I have gathered more and more sealed bearing units over time.

Same here, virtually no waste from bike maintenance. I'll hose off the muddy bike on the side lawn - mud soaks into the turf. Bike washed on drive in soapy water.

Bearings, then degreaser etc just drips on the garage floor/into rags/workshop paper towels.

Some stuff does go down the drain occasionally, if say soaking a chain/sprockets. I believe you are better using the roadside grids rather than the household waste pipes, although you shouldn't. Oil from car's goes to the recycling. I never have enough bike oil waste - that ends up on old t-shirts

 

[Fab Foodie]

Real men drink it and use their kidneys to filter out all the nasties. 😬

Makes a great exfoliant....

 

[cyberknight]

Real men drink it and use their kidneys to filter out all the nasties. 😬

I thought @Drago was back for a minute with a reply like that

 

[Dogtrousers]

I thought @Drago was back for a minute with a reply like that

Back? Has he flounced again? Have I missed something?

 

[Fab Foodie]

It's the economic answer to Chamois cream....

 

[raleighnut]

Back? Has he flounced again? Have I missed something?

Aye, not on the level of the infamous 'Mega Flounce' but close.........................I bet he comes back and peeks though.