August 27, 2016
A question our customers often ask: "What should I tell my customers who want to feel re-assured that the run-off from soft washing will not have a detrimental effect on our environment?"
Firstly, prevention is better than cure so reduce run-off at source by using skillful application techniques. Using the correct nozzles and flow rates will also significantly reduce run-off and therefore reduce risk.
Customers can be especially concerned if their property is close to a river.
The safest option if a property is close to a river would be to use Benz Bio Cleanze only, which will remain in the treated porous surface, offering long-term residual biocide protection from re-colonisation.
All residues from softwashing with Bio Cleanze are fully biodegradable without further treatment. And as this product should not be rinsed, there is no concern about rinse water entering drains or the river.
There's seldom an issue when treating with Bio Cleanze and the run-off is very slight.
Your customer would have to accept the longer timescale for results to show than if Benz Lightning Cleanze was used first to clean the worst of the contamination.
Lightning Cleanze does not bio-accumulate and it's surfactant is fully biodegradable.
Even so, run-off from Lightning Cleanze should not go into surface drains, which often lead into rivers.
The rinse water will only contain a small amount of common salt and organic residue. But it should be diverted to the foul water drain where it will be treated by the local sewage works.
Most properties have sewer access near the paths, so it's usually a simple matter to divert the rinse water into the foul water system.
Quick tips:
Properties built prior to 1950 in the UK will probably only have foul water drains.
Quick tip: EU regulations allow for one-off discharges of some cleaning products into drains. It is the continual or regularly repeated discharge that harms the environment. The UK regs are usually similar but it would be wise to check.
Ask for permission from the water authority to dispose of rinse water into a surface drain. Quote regulation "ERC 8E" from the “REACH Use Descriptor System” when making your application.
IMPORTANT: Septic tanks and reed beds should never have any run-off or rinse water fed into them.
We hope this information is helpful and inspires you to succeed in soft washing.
Cheers,
Ben, Leo
& Fiona,
PS: As legislation and building regulations are continually changing it would be wise to check with the relevant local authorities that our suggestions are acceptable to them, and ask if they want any additional procedures put in place. The information in this article and video pertains to EU and UK legislation and is our best understanding of the situation at the time of writing in August 2016.
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April 01, 2021
We recently tested – just out of curiosity – some old Tornado Cleanze that was nearly two months past it's best-by date. We wanted to find out how long it could be stored for and still produce effective results. And stored badly at that ...
Want to know what happened? (the results even surprised us)
Click the link on this page to find out ...
March 11, 2021
Cleaning caravans and mobile homes is an excellent soft washing market.
The process is simple and straight-forward. And cleaning several on the same day can be highly profitable.
Click the link on this page to learn more ...
March 04, 2021
Huge thanks to all our customers for your loyalty in making Benz your softwash product supplier of choice. We appreciate the fact that so many of our trade customers come back to us week after week, month after month, year after year.
And by way of practical appreciation, we've decided to no longer pro-actively seek domestic customers for our products and will not knowingly sell products to the customers of our trade customers, i.e. those who want to play around with d.i.y.
Click the link on this page to continue reading ...
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