Can wash basin water pollute ground water?

Hello clevis1

Water which is poured onto the ground may evaporate, supply plants and trees, end up in an aquifer - or some of it to each of the above.

It would not be correct disposal to send that wash-water to a storm drain.

The correct disposal method would be to run that water into the sewerage system, and that may be run into a tank then pumped as necessary.

In saying the above, I am assuming that you have a sewerage connection to the land on which the shop is built, and there would be local Ordinances which state disposal of such waste-water to the sewerage line.

There is an alternative: Run the water to a storage tank, and heat the water to evaporate it, clean out the accumulated residue periodically.

The potential for aquifer contamination in your area depends on the ground strata, but I do not know the strata at "Right next to the lizard king".

The prudent way is to clean up locally, not send your waste to where it becomes a problem for others, and Municipal Sewerage Plants are designed to cope with such waste-water as you describe.

Kind Regards....

If you wash grease and oil off your hands and parts where is that going to go.

Are you allowed to discharge into the storm drain? A definite no. Will the wastewater contaminate groundwater? That depends on many factors. How permeable is your top soil layer? Is there an impermeable layer (e.g. granite, dense-packed clay) under your top soil? Is the water table more than 3 meters below the surface even during the rainy season? What exactly are you washing off from your hands and machinery? If your water table is over 3 meters below the surface even during the wet season, and you are only using soap and water to remove dirt, not likely. If there is an impermeable layer directly below the top soil, again, quite unlikely. But if you're washing off organics such as oil, there is no impermeable layer under the soil, or if the water table is less than 3 meters below the surface, then probably you will end up contaminating the ground water.

We are in an area where the water table is quite deep, I would guess around 20'-30'. The soil under the top soil is clay, and the only thing this basin is used for is cooling clean, hot parts and as I stated washing hands with a solvent free hand cleaner and water. My problem is there is no sewage drain less than 300' from this shop. There is probably less than 2 gallons per day that goes down this drain.

At that level of discharge it would be hard to make a case for doing anything beyond what you are currently doing with it, especially given your subsoil. Of course, OMG, I am sure someone will object. But then, some people can object to anything.

20' to 30' deep to the water table is actually considered quite shallow. Deep would be greater than 100'. Storm water is not s suitable place to dispose of the materials washed off or the agents used to wash (soaps and detergents).

Personally if you're worried, I would call the manufacturer of the hand cleaner and find out if there are any hazardous chemicals in their product.

I don't know about hand cleaner but I do know I had a kitchen sink drain that was spewing onto the lawn for a while, that was the greenest spot in my lawn. I later found out that dish soap is one of the cheap tricks for getting a green lawn.

This may not solve your problem, but maybe you'll get a greener lawn.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf959916.tip.html

If that hand cleaner has any soap content then wherever you dump it on the ground there will be a build up of stuff that may eventually get to smelling pretty bad, especially if there is a clay layer underneath. (now how would I know this?) If you have access to the drain 300 feet away and if you have a right of way to reach it consider pumping it through a pipeline of maybe 3/4" plastic pipe sunk deep enough in the ground to not freeze. (don't forget to add cleanouts for the line, i.e. tees with plugs where you would otherwise have elbows) If the pipeline isn't practical a small trailer with a couple of 55 gallon drums permanently mounted would only need to be emptied every month or two. Use what is referred to as a "laundry tray pump", a small centrifugal pump that drains a sump under the sink to fill the drums or feed the pipeline. The sump should be easy get to for periodic cleaning of the solids like the abrasive hand soap residue. Either run the pump off a manual switch or a float switch. The sump could be something as simple as a 5 gallon plastic bucket and the pump discharge piping a short run of garden hose.

In my first house there was a basement with the only sewer connection, an opening high on the wall for the washing machine drain. When I put a sink in to serve my basement workshop all I did was feed the sink drain into the inlet of a small electric driven brass positive displacement pump with an on/off switch above the sink. A small hose ran up to the same drain as the washing machine used and whenever I wanted to empty the sink I just turned the pump on for a few seconds and then turned it off. The pump tolerated the abrasive boraxo hand soap without a problem for the 5 years we lived there. Just make sure all the electricals are well grounded.

Ed Weldon

There are a lot of good answers in here.

To make sure that you are safe is to have someone from an environmental health and safety come out and test it.

When you do it voluntarily they will come out and and give you the straight information that you need.

One of the factors that influence their information is what type of materials and at what concentration it is being introduced.

If someone were to report you and you were visited by a surprise visit it might be another matter.

The only variable to worry about is the personality of the person that comes to inspect.

If you started worrying about this issue because some water softener salesperson said so, well they also push that concept for people that live around dairies and all the cow manuer that puts elements into the water below ground.

Two things you are forgetting to consider- future use and the law.

Right now, you are only using the drain to cool clean parts and wash your hands with solvent-free cleaner. BUT you are creating the opportunity for others to abuse it. Unless you post signs with rules and find some way of enforcing them, you could be endangering the groundwater.

Second, there are likely laws governing this. It's not so much a matter of practicality as it is law. If you install a basin with an illegal drain you risk being fined and having issues selling the property. Check your local ordinances.

Hope this helps.

Most building codes are not only to protect the knowlegable current user, but protect the next ignorant clown that comes along. Conform to the code!

I am going to disagree with what almost everyone else has stated in this forum.

To some degree, if your soil in the area is pervious, you are going to pollute the ground water. If your soil is impervious, such as clay, then you will likely end up polluting the surface water.

But your current practice is only a few feet below ground from acting in a manner similar to a septic line. A septic line is a legal form of discharge in any rural area.

I suggest you evaluate your soil. If the water you are spilling on the ground does infiltrate into the ground, I would acquire a permit to construct a septic line or system, construct such, and continue your current practice - only you will be discharging below ground instead of on the surface. In some areas contractors are licensed to construct the septic system. In other areas, the process may require an engineer to prepare plans.

If your soil is mostly clay, then the water is not infiltrating and the deposits left behind after the water evaporates eventually will find there way to surface water. That is not good. In this case, I would suggest your contain your waste water in a tank and have it pumped out when it is full.

Based on your description of how your current system operates, I don't think your soil is clay. I say place the discharge underground and you will be fine.

Hello clevis1,

If your area falls under any kind of building or environmental codes, it would be safe to assume that draining a wash basin to the open ground is a no-no regardless of what you put in it or what kind of soil it's draining to. A few suggestions: Is it possible to move your basin to a location where you can make a sewer connection? Could you capture the drain water into a tank and periodically pump it back to your sewer? Could you eliminate the basin by using a self-contained parts washer and "waterless" hand cleaner?

Best regards

If you are in US, this would likely violate stormwater runoff laws if the hand residue / soil contains process chemicals (oil, grease, metallic scale from cooled parts? etc).

http://tinyurl.com/583rr5

You will most likely need an NPDES permit. Don't go there. Google stormwater regs and prepare to go mind numbingly bored and confused.

But fact is any oil exposed to the elements is a possible citation.

Short answer NO Don't do it!

milo

I think there have been a lot of good answers. Seems to me that if you're running any kind of visible business enterprise sooner of later the pollution police will show up on your doorstep and ask questions about that sink. They may well decide that anything in the sink is hazardous waste and therefore expensive to dispose of.

With out expertise on the legal side or operational sides I've tried to focus on the solutions to your basic problem rather than directly answer your question.

So here's another possible solution that might be worth looking at. How about a system that evaporates the water leaving a small amount of sludge that may be far cheaper to dispose of than the original volume that is mostly water? Likely you'd have to invent this yourself but there are a variety of possible energy sources you could draw on such as solar or excess heat from the building's comfort heating system. You're only trying to get rid of 2 gallons per day. A misting nozzle on the sink may even reduce this a lot. There may be something there.

Any of you guys want to cast some creative wisdom in this direction?

Ed Weldon

These are probably overkill for the problem described:

http://www.wastewaterevaporators.com/

http://www.evaporator.com/evaporation_systems.html

These are used to reduce shop mop waters since we no longer use oildri and can't dump down the sewer.

this reduces the oily waste to be hauled away as hazwaste...

milo

Health Department rules may vary from state to state and the rules may well vary within the state. These differences in rules most likely will vary depending on the subsoil conditions and water table and sometimes politics can influence any rule. Here in Florida, septic systems are virtually every where, some times even in cities. To prevent having to have drain fields that exceed property boundaries the codes have evolved to accept a combination of two different systems One for sludge of organic types and a second one for gray water. The gray water type is optional in most cases and provides for a reduction in the size that would be required if both the gray water and house hold sewage were to dump into the same tank. However water, even if it just empties from your utility tub or washing machine must go into a underground tank of some type, and flow into a drain field.

Regarding the issue proposed by clevis1, eventually there will be a build up of sediments on the surface, and what ever he is rinsing off of the parts he is cooling may not readily soak into the ground. Therefore it is likely that the ground in the area will sour and the water will ultimately get polluted, regardless of just how the waste water is treated.

The advantage of dumping into a septic tank is that the solids will be retained and can be moved to a treatment facility.

TMF

I would strongly suggest doing an internet search for information about what is referred to "graywater/greywater" which is water captured by facilities and homes that contains soap and other substances. I am certain you will find environmental sites which promote the use of graywater for landscape watering, toilets, non-potable applications. They may provide you guidelines, environmental impacts and suggestions to give you more informed answers to your questions. Kudos for you asking the questions!

Hello clevis1:

The problem is, if you have a washing facility there can always be a time when the so called 'harmless' water is not the only thing being disposed of. A sewer is the best place, provided you are not disposing of 'oil/water/something else' mixture. Then it should be put in a container, drum or something and collected by the local council/Authority.

Take care

if u drink the water from wash basin then must u RO system of filter