 Thousands of auto repair shops across the country keep our cars running so we can work, shop and travel. Auto repair and maintenance operations use many types of chemicals and generate a variety of wastes that can impact worker health and the environment. Rising chemical costs, the rising costs for disposal, compliance with regulations, worker exposure and liability, customer expectations, these are all good reasons for following environmental best practices. EPA calls it pollution prevention. I call it good business practices. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 and state and local environmental assistance providers produced this video to introduce shop owners, managers and mechanics to equipment and practices that reduce the environmental impacts of auto repair and save your business money. In this video you will see ideas that you can adopt to reduce operating costs, regulatory liabilities and waste generation without compromising the quality of your services. Topics addressed in this video include replacing solvent parts cleaning with aqueous parts cleaning, aqueous brake washing, antifreeze recycling, using bulk aerosol products in refillable spray bottles, spill prevention practices and a preferred floor cleanup method. The information presented on each of these topics is summarized in a series of fact sheets. The information on how to order these fact sheets is included at the end of this video. So for now just sit back and listen to how auto repair shops just like yours have discovered how to profit through prevention. Most auto repair shops use a petroleum solvent such as mineral spirits to clean parts. However significant environmental and human health concerns are associated with petroleum solvent use. Solvents contain volatile organic compounds that contribute to smog formation and may be harmful when inhaled. Solvents become saturated with soils quickly resulting in the need for frequent replacement. Spent solvent is the most significant hazardous waste stream at most shops. The performance that I'm getting from the aqueous cleaning units is equal to any of the performances I received from solvents in the past. It is much friendlier to my employees. Cleaning wise it just does a super job. I'd recommend it to everyone. The aqueous cleaning is way cheaper. It's much more cost effective. My first initial reaction was wow it works really good. I was amazed. I was quite surprised that I didn't think it was going to work that well but I'm really happy using it. Aqueous cleaning solutions are water based cleaners that unlike solvents are typically non flammable and contain little or no volatile organic compounds. Aqueous solutions release dirt and grease from part surfaces breaking them up into smaller particles. When aqueous solutions are combined with heat and mechanical agitation cleaning performance can equal solvent. In addition aqueous solutions usually last longer than solvents resulting in less frequent waste disposal. For many auto repair shops reducing waste disposal can mean significant cost savings. The most cost effective aqueous cleaning units for auto repair shops are the microbial sink top unit and the spray cabinet. In fact medium to large shops often purchase one of each, a microbial sink top for light duty cleaning and a labor saving spray cabinet for heavier cleaning needs. Microbial sink top units are designed for manual parts cleaning by scrubbing parts under a flowing faucet or using a flow through brush. The aqueous cleaning solution contains microbes that feed on oil and organic contaminants. Because the oils get digested the solution may be used for up to several years before requiring change out. Some smaller shops that contract out carburetor and transmission work are finding that microbial sink top units can meet all their cleaning needs. Some of the advantages are that they're technician friendly. The solution is actually warm to 110 degrees approximately and in the winter time I have technicians that fight over using that unit because they want to wash the parts and keep their hands warm at the same time. Solvent based units tend to dry out the skin and your hands can crack and even I've seen hands that actually bled from these cracks. So we have none of these problems with the aqueous unit. It also cleans well. It has no adverse characteristics that we can see and I would recommend it to as a replacement for any solvent based unit. Microbial sink top units are effective for cleaning parts with light oil grease and dirt and are best suited for shops that perform a relatively small amount of light duty cleaning. Never use aerosol products over a microbial sink top. These products contain chemicals that can harm the microbes in the cleaning solution. Microbial sink top units cost between $1000 to $1500. Several features should be considered before purchasing a unit. The working height of the unit should be comfortable for the workers to prevent back strain. The sink top capacity should accept all or most types of parts cleaned in the shop. The pump pressure that circulates cleaning solution through a cleaning brush should be high enough to provide a strong steady flow of solution and the solution odor should be acceptable to workers. The spray cabinet is another type of aqueous parts cleaning unit. Spray cabinets work by spraying high temperature aqueous solutions onto parts at high pressures in an enclosed cabinet. Compared to sink top units, aqueous cleaning solutions used in spray cabinets are heated to much higher temperatures, usually between 160 to 190 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray cabinets offer numerous cleaning benefits. They provide a high level of cleaning performance. Their automated cleaning capability reduces cleaning labor and they come in a wide range of sizes to meet your cleaning needs. What I like most about the spray cabinet is I could put in all my bearings and dirty parts, walk away, go back to my job, come back and they're all clean and it doesn't leave the solvent residue which breaks down the grease when you repack the bearings. We reduced our cleaning time to by up to 90 percent from solvent units by using these spray cabinets. Spray cabinets cost from $1,700 to $5,500. Several features should be considered before purchasing a unit. Most spray cabinets operate on 220 volt electrical power. A temperature adjuster can help optimize cleaning performance. Spray pump pressure and number of spray nozzles affect cleaning performance. High pressure and many nozzles may result in greater coverage and better cleaning. Some spray cabinets are equipped with oil skimmers. These devices are desirable because they extend the cleaning solution life. The part becomes warm enough that after it's finished we take it out and it will dry immediately. We have no problem with rusting or corroding because the part is put back onto the vehicle. If there is any lubricant that was required to put on the part to keep it serviceable we do that at the time of installation. Aquias parts cleaning can generate three types of waste that must be managed correctly. Waste solution, used filters and skimmed oil. Some vendors are licensed to service Aquias units and manage these wastes for you. However shops may choose to manage the small amount of waste themselves to realize greater cough savings. Unless you have approval from the local sewage treatment agency never dispose of waste solution down a sewer or sink. Spent Aquias solution may be a hazardous waste because it can be contaminated with metals. Spent solution should be shipped off site as either hazardous or non-hazardous waste. Take data or test the waste stream at least once to make this determination and dispose of the spent solution accordingly. The good news is with proper use, filtration and oil skimming the solution may require a disposal only several times per year or less. Used filters should also be managed as hazardous waste. Some filters may be recycled with spent engine oil filters if permitted by state laws and the recycling company. Check with your state to determine if this practice is allowed. People collected from units with oil skimmers should be managed as a used motor oil and recycled. Microbial sink top units are the only unit that will not accumulate oil because it is consumed by the microbes. Glenmore Auto Repair is a full service auto repair shop with two technicians that cost effectively converted from solvent to Aquias cleaning without sacrificing cleaning performance. Glenmore previously leased a solvent parts cleaner that was serviced every 16 weeks. The technicians used the solvent unit about one hour per week for cleaning parts. Glenmore eliminated solvent cleaning by purchasing a small Aquias spray cabinet that it currently uses to clean about 95% of all its parts, including heavily soiled parts. Labor savings as much as 80% are achieved by using the spray cabinet. The spray cabinet is serviced and 25 gallons of spent solution and sludge is disposed of every six months by a waste disposal company. Glenmore also purchased a microbial sink top unit to handle the small portion of quick cleaning jobs it performs. Although Glenmore could perform the quick cleaning jobs using rags or its Aquias break washer, they decided to purchase the unit for convenience. The microbial sink top unit generates no waste solution and the filters are changed every six months and collected by the vendor. My employees accepted it readily. The main benefits that I see that my shop has gained through using these units are that I now have, my employees now have no exposure to hazardous materials when they are cleaning parts. They don't have the toxics, they're not breathing them, they're not entering their skins, they don't have to worry about getting skin disorders later on in life for lung disorders from breathing these chemicals. Glenmore spent a total of $3,000 to purchase the microbial sink top and spray cabinet units. Glenmore is saving about $1,638 per year by using these two Aquias units instead of the solvent unit, therefore the payback period is 1.8 years. Glenmore performs a small amount of parts cleaning and chose to replace a single solvent unit with two Aquias cleaning units. As Glenmore had implemented only the spray cabinet, the payback period would have been less than one year. Most larger auto repair shops will realize even greater cost savings and shorter payback periods than Glenmore. Larry's Auto Works is a full service auto repair shop with six technicians. Previously, Larry's used 12 labor hours per week to clean parts using two mineral spirits units that were serviced every six weeks. In January 1998, Larry's replaced these units with an Aquias spray cabinet and an Aquias microbial sink top unit. We did a rough computation on it before we bought it. We tried to get the guys to keep an idea of about how much time they spend each day cleaning parts versus working on the cars and we came up with a rough estimate of anywhere between an hour minimum to two hours in some cases where they had a big job with a lot of parts that they were hand cleaning and so we ran that out times six mechanics and it resulted as you can see by running the numbers you could run into a substantial number of hours and our labor rate if we figured that's money we're losing because we couldn't be doing other things we realized the payback was going to be a very short time in our case it was a matter of just a few months. Cost savings and cleaning performance. What better reasons do you need to convert from solvent to Aquias cleaning? Before repair work, brake assemblies are washed to remove dust and debris that prevent the brakes from functioning properly and that may cause grinding and squeaking. Brake washing also helps maintain a clean work area. Many auto repair shops use aerosol cans of brake cleaner to clean and wet the brake area and some shops still use roll-up solvent brake washing devices. However, Aquias brake washers are available that can provide significant cost savings and environmental benefits over solvent brake washers and solvent aerosols. Aquias brake washers generate no solvent vapors or aerosol mists that can be harmful to your workers health are non-flammable. Do not contribute to smog formation, climate change or ozone depletion. Do not generate empty aerosol cans that are discarded as bulky non-buyer degradable trash. Reduce overall environmental and safety liabilities for your shop and can reduce purchase of expensive aerosol cans and save your shop money. Your shop can experience these benefits by implementing Aquias brake washing. Aquias brake washers use a water-based cleaning solution that performs as well as traditional solvent brake washers or aerosol cans. Compressed air pumps the Aquias solution through a hose and a flow-through brush and a filter collects debris and keeps the solution clean. Also look for units that can adjust to different heights. The Aquias brake washer has been a great improvement to our business. It has made a hazardous job into a less hazardous job and eliminated all the brake dust. We use it all the time, we do a lot of brake jobs, it's been a great improvement. Compared to aerosol cans of brake cleaner, Aquias brake washers are cost-effective. If you perform 20 or more brake jobs per month and use about one can of brake cleaner per job at $2 per can, you can purchase an $800 Aquias brake washer and expect a payback of less than two years. After using the Aquias brake washer, dry the brake assembly by using compressed air. Avoid using aerosol solvents to dry brakes. Aquias brake washing solution will eventually become too dirty to clean well and the filter will need to be replaced. Spent solution and filters should be shipped off-site as either hazardous or non-hazardous waste. Get data or test the waste stream at least once to make this determination and dispose of the waste accordingly. Does this sound like bad news? Well it's not because Aquias brake washing solutions last for years. An informal survey of San Francisco Bay Area auto repair shops indicated that Aquias brake washing solution is changed about once every three years. Why wait? Aquias brake washing is a proven and profitable alternative to aerosol cans of brake cleaner and solvent brake washing. We've had excellent experience with our Aquias brake washer. It's been in service for a few years, easy to use, guys like to use it and it's a better way in our opinion of capturing all of the fibers and the contaminants surrounding a brake assembly. We wouldn't even consider going back to a solvent-based product. Waste antifreeze should never be disposed of down sanitary sewers, storm drains or septic systems. Why? Because the ethylene glycol and heavy metals in waste antifreeze can contaminate groundwater and surface waters. Like used oil, waste antifreeze is a valuable resource that should always be recycled. In fact, ethylene glycol is made from natural gas, a non-renewable resource. Depending on the recycling method, the cost of recycled antifreeze can be as much as forty percent less than the cost of buying virgin antifreeze. Recycling waste antifreeze and using recycled product ultimately saves you money and conserves natural resources for future generations. Waste antifreeze recycling involves two basic steps. First, technology such as filtration, distillation, reverse osmosis or ion exchange must be used to remove contaminants from the antifreeze. Second, chemical additives are added to restore critical properties to the antifreeze. The three methods for recycling waste antifreeze are on-site recycling with a unit owned by the shop and operated by the technicians, on-site recycling by a mobile recycling service vendor equipped with a truck containing recycling technology, and off-site recycling at a regional recycling facility. Shops can purchase an on-site antifreeze recycling unit that technicians operate on a day-to-day basis. Vendors offer on-site units at prices ranging from twenty five hundred to four thousand dollars for filtration units and eight thousand to eighteen thousand dollars for distillation units. These units can be used on both regular and long-life antifreeze. Be sure to ask vendors to explain operating costs, training requirements, recycle to antifreeze quality, and wastes generated by the different units. The shop owner is responsible for properly managing wastes generated by on-site recycling. Mobile waste antifreeze recycling services involve a vendor with a van or truck containing a recycling unit that regularly visits your shops to recycle waste antifreeze accumulated in a small tank or drum. Mobile services typically use reverse osmosis or ultra-filtration technology and can recycle a fifty-five gallon drum of waste antifreeze in less than one hour. Mobile services may leave recycling wastes such as used filters or reverse osmosis sludge at the shop and the shop owner is responsible for proper disposal of these potentially hazardous wastes. Capital costs for equipment are avoided with mobile services, however service may not be available in all areas. The third recycling method involves sending waste antifreeze to an off-site recycling facility. These facilities use distillation technology to recycle large volumes of waste antifreeze. The shop owner then has the option to purchase recycled antifreeze back from the recycling facility. Recycled antifreeze quality is determined by the type of technology used to remove contaminants and the chemical additive package used to replenish the antifreeze. Some shops are particularly concerned about how using recycled antifreeze affects warranties while other shops have used recycled antifreeze for years with positive results. As of August 1999, there is no ASTM quality standard for recycled antifreeze. However, some state agencies such as California Weights and Measures have issued product specifications for recycled antifreeze. Antifreeze quality specifications and vehicle warranty concerns are best addressed on a case-by-case basis through discussions with the recycling unit or service vendor. Some vendors can provide certification letters from vehicle manufacturers or will guarantee the recycled antifreeze they produce. With savings potential of up to forty percent, recycling waste antifreeze and using recycled product is good for business and good for the environment. Every year, auto repair shops throw away thousands of aerosol cans. Empty aerosol cans are a bulky, non-buyer degradable solid waste that fills valuable landfill space. Used aerosol cans that are not empty may be a hazardous waste if the contents are hazardous. Also, propellants and aerosol cans can contribute to global warming and smog formation. You can eliminate aerosol cans by using pressurized refillable metal spray bottles. Refillable bottles are a cost-effective alternative to aerosols. Why? Ounce for ounce bulk product is cheaper than products sold in aerosol cans. In addition, most aerosol products contain only eighty-five percent bulk product and the remaining fifteen percent is propellant. Therefore, fifteen percent of the purchase price is for material that never reaches the surface you're spraying. Another benefit of the refillable spray bottles, we found it saves a lot of labor and what I mean by that is since the refillable spray bottle holds probably ten times more liquid than a can of aerosol spray, there's less trips required to the storeroom. Refillable spray bottles are filled with bulk product, pressurized with compressed air and used just like aerosol cans. The bottles are available in different sizes and shapes and accessories include adjustable nozzles and nozzle extensions for accessing difficult to reach areas. Common aerosol products such as brake cleaner, carburetor cleaner and penetrating lubricants can be used in refillable bottles. Many common aerosol products are available in bulk containers ranging from one to fifty-five gallons. Using bulk product in refillable cans reduces time, labor and storage space for purchasing and stocking aerosol cans. Pressurized refillable spray bottles cost from twenty-five to sixty dollars per bottle depending on size and accessories. However you may be able to obtain them free from a vendor for purchasing bulk product. When using refillable spray bottles use pumps, spigots or funnels to avoid spills. Keep replacement parts on hand. If a clog occurs it can usually be eliminated by blowing compressed air through the nozzle. Check with the manufacturer to ensure that the bottle is compatible with the product. Provide every mechanic with a refillable spray bottle for each type of frequently used product. Make them as convenient as spray cans. The shops in this video save between four hundred eighty dollars and two thousand dollars per year by using refillable spray bottles. Payback periods range from five months to immediate at a shop where the bulk product vendor provided the bottles for free in exchange for purchasing the bulk product. With such short payback periods and such great environmental benefits it is difficult to justify not using refillable bottles for spray on products. Auto repair operations can involve spills of many products. There are consequences to every spill and leak. Oil, antifreeze, engine fluids and other materials that spill, drip or leak onto the facility floor create safety hazards for workers. In addition many spills contain contaminants such as heavy metals and toxic compounds that can be released to the environment through sanitary sewers, storm drains, septic systems or oil water separators, polluting surface water, groundwater and ultimately even our drinking water. Shops can reduce spills and environmental discharges by implementing spill prevention techniques, dry floor cleanup methods and effective oil water separator maintenance. Implementing these practices will help you meet stricter regulations on water discharges and storm water management, reduce your liabilities, protect the environment, community and workers and save you time and money. One of the things that is beneficial to the dry cleanup method is you can eliminate some of your permit fees because you after plugging up your discharge to the storm drain or to the sewers and once you've proved this to the regulatory agencies involved you can eliminate some of your permit fees which really can be cost effective. Most spills and leaks can be prevented or controlled through simple practices. Overhead bulk product dispensers, roll up fluid caddies, drip pans and sloped drum covers help to minimize spills. Bulk and waste oil and antifreeze drums should be stored on special drum pallets that contain spills and leaks. An inexpensive alternative to drum pallets is livestock watering troves. All waste drums should be equipped with sloped drum covers to catch spills during transfer operations. Even with many prevention practices in place, spills will occur. Use the following dry cleanup methods to keep contaminants out of the drain. In all cases, remember, stop if there is a drop. Never walk away from a spill. If spills are not cleaned up immediately, they are likely to be tracked around the shop spreading the mess. This will ultimately cause you to spend more time cleaning the floor. Also, workers can slip and fall from these spills. If the spill can be cleaned with two or three rags, then laundered rags should be used. Mechanics should carry a rag in their back pocket at all times. Although back pocket rags are useful for on-the-spot spill cleanup, they should never be soaked or saturated with a spill. Doing so may increase the chance of chemicals dripping from them onto other objects or people. Also, many laundries won't accept saturated rags. If you can wring anything from your rags, they are considered saturated. If the spill is too large to be cleaned up with two or three rags, a four-step cleanup process should be followed. Step one, if a lot of oil is present, use a hydrophobic mop to soak up most of the oil. A hydrophobic mop absorbs only oil, not water or antifreeze. When you use these mops, avoid sweeping back and forth and spreading the oil. Transfer the oil to a used oil drum for recycling. Step two, if there is a lot of antifreeze in the spill, use a dedicated cloth mop to soak up the antifreeze. Ring out the dedicated antifreeze mop in a bucket and transfer the antifreeze to a waste antifreeze drum for recycling. Step three, use rags to clean up any residual liquid and dry the floor. Step four, if necessary, use a wet mop with a mild non-costic detergent to spot clean the floor. If permitted by your local sewage treatment agency, discharge the spent wash water to the sanitary sewer through a drain, sink, or toilet. Never dump floor wash water into a street gutter or down a storm drain. This practice is illegal and punishable with fines up to $25,000. The four-step cleanup method just described is the most efficient way to clean up spills. In addition, it achieves waste segregation and assures that spilled hazardous chemicals are properly managed while using little to no wash water. Absorbent material known as kitty litter or grease sweep should only be used with gasoline or solvent spills and in emergency situations. Absorbent materials should not be used for routine spills and floor cleanup because the absorbent may become saturated with a mix of liquids which may be hazardous and used absorbent that is hazardous is costly to dispose. It cannot be disposed of in the trash. Shops should also consider coating the floors with a sealant to reduce the time and effort required for floor cleanup. Using the spill prevention practices and floor cleanup methods just described will significantly reduce staff effort and amount of water needed to clean the floor. Wash water will also be less contaminated, which reduces your environmental liabilities and helps you stay ahead of strict discharge regulations. For shops with oil-water separators, these practices can improve your oil-water separator operation, thereby minimizing pollutant discharge and reducing maintenance costs. Shops with oil-water separators should also consider other techniques to improve their oil-water separator operation. These techniques include minimizing solids and removing oil efficiently. An effective way to reduce solids, such as dirt, grit, and trash, is to install progressively finer grates and screens over the drains to the oil-water separator inlet. You can begin with steel bars spaced between three-quarters to one inch apart and add sequentially finer grates and screens down to one-quarter inch in width. Shops can efficiently remove oil from the oil-water separator by using weir oil skimming systems. Bioremediation services are also available that use microbes to break down oil and improve separator performance. Facilities using bioremediation have eliminated wastewater violations and have reported significant reductions in petroleum content. Salem Boys Auto of Tempe, Arizona, use sloping pavement, grates, and screens to minimize oil-water separator loading. These controls, together with bioremediation, decrease their oil-water separator sludge, clean out frequency, and cost by 75%. Remember, the best way to improve your oil-water separator operation is to eliminate contaminants at the source. Minimizing spills and using dry cleanup methods will reduce or eliminate your oil-water separator headaches. A clean shop improves employee morale and makes a positive impression on customers. The environmental best practices described in this video will lower your shop's operating costs and create a safer workplace for your employees, both of which add dollars to your bottom line. These techniques will help your shop use materials more efficiently, reduce toxic chemical use, and lower waste generation, all of which is good for the environment and will save you time, money, and worry associated with liability and regulatory issues. Make the smart business decision. Just like the shop shown in this video, your shop, too, can profit through prevention. The following fact sheets are available to provide more information on the technique shown in this video. Please see the label of this video for more information on how to order these fact sheets. Additional information on the project shown in this video can be obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9.