Oil Tank Emergency or Oil Spill? Call 028 9131 4041 for a 24/7 response
The process of oil tank removal and decommissioning is quite straightforward in most instances, providing you have the correct equipment and licenses. For a fully qualified engineer, you would expect them to have to correct pumps, fuel storage vessels and a license to dispose of any contaminated oil.
Below is a step by step guide to removing an oil tank from a domestic situation:
Step 1
Oil measuring and testing
A test needs to be carried out to see how much oil is in the tank, and how much of the oil is contaminated at the bottom of the tank. From this, the right tools can be used to pump out the oil, separating the oil from water or other contaminations.
Step 2
Oil pump out
Using a professional pump, the oil needs to be pumped out of the old tank into a holding tank, and another tank where the contaminants are held. The uncontaminated oil that is pumped out can still be used and will be used in your new oil tank. We always call the customer out to show them how much oil was left over, and what separates useable oil from water/gunge that is in the bottom of the tank that may damage the oil pump of the burner.
Step 3
Waste oil disposal
Once the clean oil has been transferred into the holding tank, the waste oil is collected and transferred into a waste oil container and disposed of at a licensed site. This ensures that the contaminated oil does not pollute the environment by being disposed of illegally.
Step 4
Clean out the old tank
Once the oil is pumped out of the tank, the tank is then cleaned out and disconnected from the site supply. This typically does not take long at all since there will be no oil in the tank.
Step 5
Removing the tank
Depending on the access to your oil tank, the tank will then either be taken to the engineer’s vehicle whole or cut up into pieces on-site to avoid any damage to property.
Step 6
Tank disposal and recycling
The old oil tank then needs to be disposed of and recycled correctly. The Oil Tank Doc disposes of and recycle all oil tanks that we remove, ensuring that your tank is disposed of correctly and does not cause any harm to the environment.