need to deal with a pit with 700+ litres of oily water in it - recent purchase

[R B Customs]

Hey,

photos to follow probably...

I recently bought a house which has quite a large mechanic's pit in the garage; this was quite exciting at the time! I was never able to look in the pit and my surveyor wasn't able to either because of access problems (garage full of junk)

since moving in, I also filled the garage full of crap and hadn't looked in the pit until the weekend. I lifted a board and found that not only was it much much bigger and deeper than I ever thought it would be; I also found that it had water in the bottom. I'm purely guessing here that it's about 220cm long and about 120cm wide, and the depth of the water is near enough bang on 30cm deep (I measured that with a stick)
there's a definite oil film on top but I don't know how bad the contamination is.

I've already contacted my conveyancy solicitor about it as I think it was a bit naughty off them to leave me with so much potentially contaminated water. I haven't had a reply from them and I'm not expecting them to be able to do much about it.

in the meantime what are my options? I've read that hay/straw is good for soaking up crude oil slicks in water; will it do a similar job here? then just pump the water out into the drain? that already sounds terribly irresponsible and I don't really want to do that - but what are you supposed to do with so much oily water? or just wait to hear back from solicitor and keep it covered up.

I'm tackling the garage tomorrow so will get more details and try and calculate the volume more accurately! Until it's empty I can't determine if it has been flooded (which they should have declared I think) or if it's just ground water seeping in; in which case it will be a continuous problem probably.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

Just pump it down the drain - it's not pure oil after all. Oil and other contaminants from the roads get washed in to the general drainage system every time it rains.

99% it'l be ground water seeping up. What level is your water table? Should be in your survey pack.

 

[R B Customs]

Just pump it down the drain - it's not pure oil after all. Oil and other contaminants from the roads get washed in to the general drainage system every time it rains.

99% it'l be ground water seeping up. What level is your water table? Should be in your survey pack.

haven't got all of the paperwork yet, and can't specifically remember water table being mentioned on the searches but will have a look through. I looked through the historical maps and found there used to be a pond where my house is built (this also showed on the searches but passed)

if it's ground water, should the pit not have been built to specifically to overcome that with some kind of water proofing? perhaps it was and it has since failed - not sure.
It was made in '83 (after the house was built in '73)

 

[mark66]

My mother in laws has a pit in her garage that has been dry for 25 years, however following this winters particularly heavy rainfall, where the water table is higher in some places than ever previously recorded, it has caused it to flood. There might not be much you can do until the water table sinks?

 

[Deleted member 66701]

if it's ground water, should the pit not have been built to specifically to overcome that with some kind of water proofing? perhaps it was and it has since failed - not sure.
It was made in '83 (after the house was built in '73)

No building regs for pits in garages Could have just been simply dug by a previous owner.

 

[Maccapacca]

A tiny drop of oil will make it look oily.

Build a pump and separator and pump it out.

 

[Maccapacca]

Don't just pump it down the drain. This is illegal.

 

[Deleted member 66701]

Don't just pump it down the drain. This is illegal.

Not if the concentraion is less than 500mg per litre (but check your local waterboard policies). If it's just a thin film on top of 200liters of water it'll be fine.

 

[R B Customs]

A tiny drop of oil will make it look oily.

Build a pump and separator and pump it out.

good point; I'll try and take a sample and see what it's like - when I discovered it I was in the middle of trying to make room and just really couldn't be bothered to investigate as it put me in a right mood!

Don't just pump it down the drain. This is illegal.

was never going to! but then I was never planning on building some kind of separation plant! lol If the solicitor comes up with nothing then I'll have to clear it myself so will try extracting it with straw first (after taking a sample - it might not be worth it)

Not if the concentraion is less than 500mg per litre (but check your local waterboard policies). If it's just a thin film on top of 200liters of water it'll be fine.

that's interesting! I'd still try and extract as much as possible though.

 

[novaenough]

If you search for "oil absorbent pads marine" you should find plenty of options that should soak up the oil leaving you free to drain out the remaining water.

 

[malfunkshun]

easiest option, get a quote from a local company that does gully clearing. Won't be the cheapest option though.

 

[Too Tall]

I'd try and drain the top layer off the pit and see if that reduced the level of oil contamination. It's a garage maintenance pit there will be oil in there but I'd be very surprised if it wasn't almost all water. Alternative is to use an oil absorbant pad as suggested and skim the surface.

 

[danza]

Buy a water pump from machine mart and pump it down the drain. Clear what oil you can out first if there's much there (I doubt there is).

A friend of mine has a big pit, and when I went to use it a few months back, it had about 18" water in. We only had the patience to pump out about 6" then went in with wellies on. The water table level was very high as apparently it's usually bone dry.

 

[Maccapacca]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolfcraft-Waterpump-Attachment-drills-1300/dp/B0001P1972

 

[Orionaut]

Pits by their nature will always tend to get a bit oily.

If/When they fill with water, the water will "Lift" some of the oil from the concrete whereupon it will float on the surface and look a lot worse than it actually is.

Tip in a bottle of fairy liquid and agitate with an old broom to break up the oil and then use your preferred method (Pump/Bucket) to remove water and wash down drain!

(Obviously if the oil really is an inch thick layer of black Torrey Canyon gloop, then use some proper oil absorbing pads first (You can probably gat something suitable from a local motor factors) to remove the worst of it before continuing with plan a above. Oily pads can be chucked on the bonfire!)

 

[Tomsk]

If you search for "oil absorbent pads marine" you should find plenty of options that should soak up the oil leaving you free to drain out the remaining water.

This, but make sure you get pads that absorb ONLY oil.
If you're planning on using the pit to work on your car, the pads will come useful anyway.

 

[~Divine~Wind~]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolfcraft-Waterpump-Attachment-drills-1300/dp/B0001P1972

Pretty sure I saw these with 2 lengths of pipe in aldi or lidl for £6

Wish I had a proper pit, when we came to removing the wooden boards above mine it's only lie a foot deep

 

[BigBoy]

Cat litter and sawdust are your friend fill the void then dig it out, bag it up and take it to the dump/tip then bill the last owners for your time and materials.

 

[Dave L]

Just pump the lot out down the drain; a small amount of oil will look like a lot when in fact it isn't much at all.