Unique Heavy Vehicle & Underbody Wash Facility
- Eco-Efficient Cost Effective & Sustainable Heavy Vehicle & Trailer Wash
- Designed to Clean All Underbody Vehicle Components
- Use of Specially Designed Grate & Concrete Radiants Together with Existing & Easily Accessible Technology
- Drying of Most Solids Prior to Separation Through Filtration – Minimal Discharge to Sewer
- Quality Grey Water
- Easy Clean Up of Debris.
The Facility & Previous Arrangements
The company, All Transport Crash installed a specially-designed heavy transport vehicle wash and underbody degreaser/cleaning facility without using any mains water, with an effective system for water purification and a low flow 40mm pipe discharging to the sewer the resultant ‘quality grey’ water. SA Water was so impressed with the system it has already brought 12 commercial clients to view it and adapt it to their own washdown facilities - no charge has been imposed on the company due to the water quality (of grey water).
This particular facility has significant practical application in terms of eco-efficiency, cost savings and sustainability in the long term with minimal future cost except for maintenance for pump, vertical gravity separator, dry sweeping/cleaning/shovelling of dried matter in the concrete gradients, and labour in operating a high pressure low volume sprayer.
Apart from the initial capital outlay and planning by the Company’s CEO (who personally spent over 12 months developing the very simple and sustainable system) the direct cost savings on the previous method was extremely high. He estimated $300,000 per annum used to be spent when heavy transport and trailer rigs were outsourced for cleaning of the vehicle body – plus the labour intensive cost of still having to degrease and clean underbody, trailer and engine components thoroughly onsite and then having to collect and dispose of water-soaked debris which previously remained on the concrete floor.
Onsite labour costs of this latter clean up were not monitored closely but a reasonable estimate of 15-20 man hours per week at say, a tradesman’s hourly wage including oncosts, payroll, etc. of around $28 per hour gives an additional savings of $25,000-$30,000 per annum. Furthermore the use on non eco-friendly solvents, degreasers, etc. which were effective in dislodging debris for the purposes of cleaning damaged vehicles for inspection and insurance assessment meant however, there were significant costs associated with liquid discharged to sewer and disposal of contaminated soil/debris.
Since the installation of the new system, there have been other spin off benefits - various transport companies are approaching All Transport Crash to clean their own fleet of vehicle underbodies every 500,000 kms so they can identify worn parts, damaged seals, oil leaks, etc. to help with diagnosis of faults, service rectification and minimise the costs of major overhauls, etc.
Background
All Transport Crash Repair is a South Australian company employing 45 staff plus subcontractors at its premises in Regency Park. Their primary function is heavy transport repair and paint specialisation covering prime movers, light trucks, buses, coaches, trailers, stock crates, semi-tippers, pantec, cranes, trams, earth moving and industrial equipment. The company’s history goes back to 1965 and the CEO has both practical and engineering skills in addition to those of management and there is no doubt that when one visits the company it is one that has grown steadily over time as a result of full time commitment of all personnel in a stable and multi-skilled workforce and a growth in management skills with flexibility to adapt its services to various customer needs/niche markets.
The company is based in Regency Park right in the heart of South Australia’s truck hub with dealerships for all leading truck manufacturers situated nearby. As SA is the transport hub to the whole of Australia with millions of tonnes of freight passing through on the way to WA and NT and eastern states each year, the company was in a position to expand its operations steadily but it needed to provide a flexible and responsive customer service to meet a variety of needs in achieving such expansion.
The company also offers a 24 hour Australia wide accident recovery service to ensure all vehicles whether from Port Headland, Northern Territory, Queensland or other far afield places are immediately assessed on arrival and arrangements for repairs are instigated as a result of a long term relationship with all major insurance companies in this field.
Whilst all staff are multi-skilled, repair and restoration work goes to the extent of coach building where necessary, use of long lasting timbers that have to be moulded to suit some of the older coach bodies and of course the full range of aluminium, metal, fibreglass, and other components to repair a variety of damaged and rebuilt/restored trucks and industrial vehicles.
The company’s expansion to become the largest truck collision repairer in Australia has in fact been a 20 year process on a site with well over 1 acre of covered workshop areas, spray booths, etc. and several stories of office and other accommodation. Its nation-wide client base includes vehicle fleets from government and corporate organisations as well as sole owners. The majority of damaged parts, panels, cabins, etc. are all stored in a systematic manner rather than crushed so as to plan the rebuild by joining of various parts of bodies where practical in the future depending of course, where the damage lies and the economics of it.
The Process Now
Given the abovementioned costs associated with outsourcing of vehicle cleaning and labour intensive onsite underbody and component cleaning of such large vehicles, the company’s CEO spent considerable time and capital outlay in developing an eco-friendly and sustainable vehicle wash facility. The vehicle/trailer, etc. is driven over a shallow pit with a series of floor grates covering the entire area and the operator steam cleans the vehicle/underbody/components. The actual area of the washdown and component cleaning facility is 17m long and 4.5m wide consisting of a series of steel grates over railway sleepers down into a shallow pit with a square drain of 1.2m2 at the end of a 17m long central channel in the pit.
Perhaps the best way to describe the pit is that the outer ridges of the pit and floor level grates (through which water and solids easily fall) gradually contour some 120mm towards the central drain with a series of railway sleepers designed to slow down the flow of solids (and to support the steel and mesh grates)and the liquid then runs into a central drain which has a very slow fall of 250mm over its 17m length into a square drain of 1.2m2.
On a visual inspection of this “shallow pit” a lot of leaves and debris still remain between the outer edges and the central drain and are fairly dry and the central channel also through the extremely slow movement of water actually has a build up of solids at various stages during its progression of the liquid towards the square drain at the end.
At the time of inspection whilst the debris was obvious and dry towards the outer perimeters of the shallow pit and the gradient was minimal, the debris which had fallen into the central drain was very dry towards the rear and gradually over the 17m length it was slightly damp but there was virtually no debris at the exit point of this channel where the liquid fell, via a grate at the top end of the 1.2m2 drain. Within that drain there is a pipe which runs to the vertical gravity separator.
The basic principle adopted by the company is that the slower movement of the water in the enclosed washdown facility over a greater surface area leads to significantly increased separation of the various solids prior to any pumping into a grease separator and therefore the water and product itself namely grey water is significantly cleaner than it would otherwise be and that water may be used for watering the company’s trees and landscaping, lawns, etc. or discharge to the sewer.
The company, given the large surface area of its roof line, has installed a 48,000 litre tank and a 26,000 litre tank which has given so much rainwater for washdown and other normal uses that at this stage it has not recycled the grey water in 18 months but plans to look at the pros and cons of this during its final landscaping of newly renovated premises. Two extra rainwater tanks are to be fitted to ensure self sufficiency when watering landscaped areas.
From a greenhouse viewpoint, the company has sawtooth roof facing north/south and has extended the roof during its expansion phase, using the traditional “A” framed high roof (estimate 8 metres tall) with translucent sheeting strategically placed to give light but minimise heat.
During the phase when Adelaide’s temperature soared past 38 degrees or more for 17 days in a row, working in these premises was significantly cooler than the majority of industrial premises in the surrounding areas. As part of the process, the company in washing down these vehicles has invested in a quality, high pressure low volume sprayer with a self-mixing eco-friendly green “cleaner for all applications”. It is a steam cleaner for dirt and grime removal from the underbody and grease and other components from the engine, etc. with a high ratio of water to this cleaning product and switches to vehicle body sprayer (cold water) for normal washing.
Although the actual shallow pit is 17m long and the total floor area under cover 22m x 5.5m wide, the company ensures in its washdown facility, that rainwater cannot enter the workshop at the outer extremities through concave gradients/ridges over a significant area which ensures any build up of water outside does not flow inwards and equally any sudden gush of water inside reaches the 17m long shallow pit and drain well before it can enter the outside area. This gradient is a significant holding area for a very large volume of water and even the most major (recorded) down pours in the Adelaide area would not causes problems.
Cleaner Production Initiatives
The company’s decision to invest in a new truck wash facility using existing technology and basic physics has certainly increased the productivity of the washdown facility, improved the work environment in terms of housekeeping, easy cleaning of components, etc. and greatly reduced the environmental impacts from having debris, poor quality solvents, etc. lying around.
The real advantage is not so much in the exterior cleaning of all vehicle body trailers, etc. but the underbody and engine/component cleaning which contributes significantly to debris on the roads, in stormwater drains, etc. and the cost savings and labour savings through this simple method is significant. The company continues to look at ways of modifying this simple system to reduce labour and ensure more efficient cleaning e.g. it is looking at installing hydraulically operated ramps to reduce the need for mechanical aids in lifting components of vehicles etc. to get into the awkward areas.
The (VGS) vertical gravity separator was purchased through ERS and uses a water-based cleaning powder but the company’s initiative in designing a series of concrete gradients and centralised drain with slow movement of water and debris over a significant area prior to entering underground drain (and pumping to the separator) is a significant contribution to cleaner production and one which many companies ought to consider in terms of capital outlay, payback period, environmental impacts, and of course, recycling of water where appropriate. In terms of cost and benefit the following represents an estimate. This was part of a major extension and rebuild of certain sections of the workshop areas.
| Capital Outlay | |
| High pressure, low volume sprayer & steam cleaner | $6,000 |
| Vertical gravity separator (VGS) | $15,000 |
| Steel Grates (secondhand) approx | $9,000 |
| Railway sleepers (estimate only) | $6,000 |
| Concrete & formwork, etc. to cover the entire area (not just washdown 17m x 4.5m area) 27m x 5.5m x 0.3m (estimate) (concrete cost is an over estimate as some areas were significantly deeper on the edges than 0.3 metre & large amount of form work). | $30,000 |
| Reinforcing Rods (estimate) | $4,000 |
| Labour (estimate) | $10,000 |
| Plumbing | $8,000 |
| 2 Rainwater Tanks (estimate) for the purpose of washdown | $10,000 |
| Other miscellaneous items (estimate) | $5,000 |
| Total | $103,000 |
Given the company’s annual bill for outsourcing 3 vehicles, rigs, etc. per week exceeded $300,000 p.a. plus the various oncosts outlined in the foreward of this report, the total cost savings per annum was in the order of $350,000 which means the payback period for this type of project is closer to 3.5 months.
Cleaner Production Incentive
The main motivators in introducing a highly efficient water reticulation and washdown facility were to increase productivity to the business, ensure there was minimal clean up, reduce discharges to the sewer, ensure that debris to be cleaned up was dry rather than wet and contaminated, increase the company’s business for cleaning and washing and minimise the cost of inputs and outputs in the cleaning process. Spin off benefits include better environmental performance and practice in this area, reduced risk of OH&S impacts in terms of exposure to non eco-friendly solvents and manual handling risks and to ensure a faster turnaround time during the course of repairs.
Barriers
No barriers were encountered as a result of the company’s careful long term planning and experimentation over time.
Further Developments
The company is looking at improving the methods of cleaning the underbody of variety of vehicles, stock trailers, etc. through the introduction of concrete ramps and will revise its existing vertical gravity separator, tank cleaning, etc. through ongoing assessment and improvement.