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CONCRETE
WASH-WATER:
What Precautions Can be Taken?
The best way to protect the environment is to prevent harmful
effects from happening in the first place. When Portland
cement-containing products are being used, this means preventing the
discharge of high pH liquids to creeks, streams, and other water
bodies, or in places where it might eventually reach creeks and
streams.
Preventing the Discharge
of High pH Liquids to
Streams
One of the first things that you can do is to be aware of local
environmental sensitivities around the job site. Know where streams
and street drains are so that you can avoid discharging any harmful
materials into them. The following table contains some additional
strategies to prevent the discharge of high pH liquids to
fish-bearing waterways from specific activities. The list is
not an exhaustive one. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of
the user to keep the material out of streams.
ACTIVITY
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STRATEGY
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Ready-mixed
concrete facilities
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Delivery
trucks
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Wash chutes off in an area with permeable ground, and away
from any subsurface drains (tile fields, perimeter
drains, etc.), streams or storm drains;
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Have
some means of containing the wash-water for disposal
back at the plant if there is no appropriate place to
wash the chute at the job site. Many companies in the
Lower Mainland of B.C. have been equipping their
vehicles with wash-water containment systems.
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Exposed
aggregate drive ways
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- Obtain
a copy of the Best Management Practices for installing
exposed aggregate driveways (see Links
of Interest);
- Collect
all wash water and dispose of it in a location where it
will not enter subsurface drains (tile fields, perimeter
drains, etc.), streams or storm drains.
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Stucco
and grout work
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Have a Back-up Plan,
Just in Case
In the event that conditions at the
work site change, a back-up plan is needed as the user should know
ahead of time what to do if this happens. For example, the
following are some things the user can do to lessen the damage a
spill of alkaline material might do to a fish-bearing waterway:
- Have on hand the names and
telephone numbers of vacuum pumper truck companies that can come
and clean out the catchbasins of street drains, or clean up
material spilled on the ground (look in the Yellow Pages under
"septic tanks - cleaning and removal"). Many
municipalities also have vacuum trucks;
- Have on hand some means of
blocking storm drains or other potential routes to any water
bodies;
- Have on hand some means of
checking the pH of spilled material (see How
Can I Measure pH?).
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