The vehicle dealership for a national brand that sells both saloon cars and light delivery vehicles in an industrial suburb of Cape Town was experiencing annoying odours and poor quality effluent in their pre-delivery and after-market service workshops. The company’s GM heard about BIO-SYSTEMS SA's services and products and we were requested to assess their problem.

The modern enterprise had been established in re-developed buildings with an existing, somewhat rudimentary, drainage system of open channels and a multi-chambered oil interceptor. The channel was continually the recipient for rubbish (plastic bags, small cardboard cartons and discarded cold drink bottles), which combined to impair the flow of oily water.

  Messy drains

We specified that the company fit mesh gratings over the open channels, most of which ran along the internal walls of the workshop. The gratings were fabricated by a local metal works and fairly inexpensive to install.

  Mesh grating

We pressure cleaned the channels and pumped out and thoroughly cleaned the old oil interceptor – removing some 15 x 15kg bags of accumulated sludge and detritus.

  Retrieved solids from channels

Cleaning staff now also clean up daily, removing any rubbish from the interceptor's solids baskets. In addition, we call to treat the interceptor every month with 125g of BIO-SYSTEMS B350, which controls the COD levels. As most vehicles are brand new, there is not a great deal of oily waste that would otherwise be expected in a garage handling used vehicles or fleets. In fact, the nature of the dealership's modus operandi is that little oil is spilled or finds its way to the drain. However, should this happen, they have a supply of Spill-Sorb^TM cushions ready to use to 'mop up' any spillage. In addition, we have provided polypropylene 'trap nappies', which can be dropped onto and absorb any oil floating in the separator. Wearing plastic gloves (or packets) on his hands, these are then wrung out by the cleaner into a bucket for disposal and the nappies used again the next time it happens.

The dealership now relies on our BIO-SYSTEMS HSDG in a 10% solution to wash down their floors, keeping the ground and the channels completely oil free and spotlessly clean.

Since our attentions, there have been no more odour problems and the city council water pollution inspector is happy with the quality of their discharge to sewer. No more financial penalties!