Anti-Freeze - Disposal

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Feb 10, 2012
Messages
838
Location
One Step Beyond
Up until recently I was taking used Anti-Freeze to my Towns Highway Dept.
They stopped taking it because of people being the slobs that they are.

I did receive from the Town a sheet showing - local shops who now accept it.
1) Pep Boys ( I dropped off 6 gallons), they also took my Brake Fluid
2) Monro Muffler & Brakes
3) Valvoline Instant Oil Change

This in incase someone did not know where to take it.
 
Last edited:
Yea it differs with each area.
Where I grew up they said to pour down a sink/toilet as the water treatment plant was setup for fluid like antifreeze. But some are not so check first.
 
Yeah, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District still permits disposal into the municipal sewer, but they promote and encourage recycling. But when diluted with water it isn't a technical issue with the treatment plants here.
 
Originally Posted By: larryinnewyork
Up until recently I was taking used Anti-Freeze to my Towns Highway Dept.
They stopped taking it because of people being the slobs that they are.

I did receive from the Town a sheet showing - local shops who now accept it.
1) Pep Boys ( I dropped off 6 gallons), they also took my Brake Fluid
2) Monro Muffler & Brakes
3) Valvoline Instant Oil Change

This in incase someone did not know where to take it.




A post from Miata.net

Originally Posted By: IBBugsy
Well, as an environmental engineer with 26 years of experience, let me chime in......

(Please, this is my two cents and not legal advice. I don't need any lawsuits at this time)

Ethylene Glycol is defintiely toxic, but also highly biodegradable by bacteria. All municipal sewer systems are required by law to be capable of treating biodegradable wastes. So an excellent disposal option is a municipal sewer system (ie. toilet). In fact, I've had municipal systems request discharges of ethylene glycol (and other easily biodegradeable materials) as a way to bring their bacteria back to health after a major upset. Also, homeowners are not prohibited by any law from doing this.

If you have a septic tank, you've got your own army of bacteria at your disposal. However, dumping the entire amount all at once will probably be too much for your system to handle. Bacteria (like children) will get upset stomachs from too much candy! Then some of the ethylene glycol will pass through your system and into the groundwater. Since most homes that have septic tanks are also on well water, I wouldn't chance it. The safest route would be to go visit someone with a sewer hookup.

Industry or commercial facilities (garages) are required to ensure their municipal authority allows them to discharge their ethylene glycol. This law is mainly intended to help the municipal authorites find all the larger disposers into their systems so they can tally up all the sources coming in to them and ensure they have sufficient capacity to deal with it. I have never come across a municipal authority that denied a discharge of ethylene glycol, but if the discharge is large enough and the municipal system is small enough, it might exceed their capacity.

Disposal of ethylene glycol is governed under hazardous waste laws because of it's toxicity, so how you deal with it if you are an industrial or commercial facility is important. Homeowners are exempt from this law, but being environmentally responsible should be everyones concern.

Do not put it down a storm drain in the street, since these are not normally sent to treatment facilities and typically just dump into nearby lakes or streams. Do not pour it onto the ground either, since it is highly water soluble and will work it's way down into the drinking water table and contaminate it.

Also, don't be too alarmed if you've previously disposed of antifreeze improperly. Again, since it is readily biodegadable,lakes, streams, and groundwater will naturally clean themselves up over time and your disposal quantities would have been small. It's the "big" guys that can have the most impact.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top