Car Wash treatment Systems

Introduction

For years, car wash stations (self-service or manned) have been present on the market. These facilities use specific products for cleaning exterior surfaces, excluding the engine compartment; the wastewater resulting from this process cannot be discharged directly into the public sewer system or into surface water bodies, in compliance with Legislative Decree 152/06 and subsequent amendments/additions.

Therefore, this water must be treated using a suitable purification plant: for this purpose, EDIL IMPIANTI2 has developed a biological system (biofiltration reactor) capable of achieving high removal rates of the pollution generated by car wash activities.

Operating Principle

Wastewater from primary treatments such as sand removal and oil separation (sand trap or sludge separator and oil removal or oil separator) passes through the plastic inert packing material within the structure with an upward flow in co-current with the air. All organic substances present in the car wash wastewater settle on the filling media, where they are attacked by aerobic bacteria that initiate the biological degradation process. Briefly, the biological oxidation process consists of bringing the wastewater from washing activities (cars, trucks, buses, etc.) into contact with a proportionate amount of oxygen blown into the tank by a side-channel blower. A series of perforated pipes placed on the bottom ensure the necessary oxygen supply to the water. In this specific compartment of the purification plant, microorganisms develop spontaneously, reproducing, living, and growing. In this bacterial bed, the conditions governing the natural phenomenon of self-purification—driven by the presence of aerobic microorganisms (as occurs in surface water bodies)—are developed in an artificial and accelerated manner, utilizing the organic matter present in the water and transforming it into activated sludge.

Regulation

Legislative Decree no. 152 of May 11, 1999, Provisions on the protection of water from pollution and transposition of Directive 91/271/EEC concerning urban wastewater treatment.
(Published in the Ordinary Supplement no. 101/L to the Official Gazette no. 124 of May 29, 1999).
Updated with the amendments of Legislative Decree no. 152 of April 3, 2006, laying down provisions on the protection of water from pollution.