What to do with used anti-freeze?

[MoKelly]

Most lube shops that recycle oil will take antifreeze as well. In fact, many of the environmental waste outfits that pick up the recycle oil pump the recycle antifreeze into the same tank.

Or you could just feed it to my dog like someone did last Feb.

Whoever did that to your dog is sick. There is no place on Earth, in my opinion, for someone like that.

MoKelly

 

[Diamondpilot]

While this may be true, it is a very poor solution from an environmental point of view. When the engines get started in the spring the antifreeze goes straight into the water. Marinas around here use the pink anti toxic plumbing type AFAIK.

If going that route, the OP might as well dump it down the drain in the first place and save a trip to the marina.

We used to use the pink stuff but started having corrosion issues. There are no rust inhibitors in most of it. We now only use the pink stuff on the water systems and AC/Heat units. Regular anit-freeze on the engines. We drain it out in the spring and recapture 75% of it prior to engine start-up.

Chris

 

[Happyman]

I just dump it on the ground. It is minuscule amount, and hauling it somewhere likely pollutes as much with the exhaust fumes in the air. We shoot ourselves in the foot so often.

I'm not manacled by the environMENTALism.

That was a good one.

Boo, Hiss!
That "minuscule amount" adds up if most people follow your procedure. PLEASE do not dump ANY fluid from your car, tractor, truck, ATV, UTV, et al. Dumping these fluids is like throwing trash out your car window. It's against the law and a very bad idea.
I guess you could call me an "environMENTAList" :thumbsup:

 

[QRTRHRS]

Actually, I do have a place to take it for proper disposal/recycle. I really do recall reading that it was acceptable to dump a small quantity in a municiple system (not a residential septic).

I just wanted to see what others are doing, not a lesson in envromental awareness. On that thought, I try to do the intelligent thing. But really, one big blast from say, Yellowstone, then all of your efforts don't mean squat.

 

[firedog]

Whoever did that to your dog is sick. There is no place on Earth, in my opinion, for someone like that.

MoKelly

You're right! Not sure if it was deliberate or not, never found out who did it. May have been someone that accidentally left some out in a pan.
2 other dogs in the area died from antifreeze poisoning that weekend.

 

[clemsonfor]

Most lube shops that recycle oil will take antifreeze as well. In fact, many of the environmental waste outfits that pick up the recycle oil pump the recycle antifreeze into the same tank.

Or you could just feed it to my dog like someone did last Feb.

We got onto this 6 months or so about oil recycling, people said they put it in the oil vat. I too have done this but someone said they worked for an oil recycler and they hated water in the oil. In highshcool i had a buddy who did not know anything mechanically say that a guy at the parts store told him to throw dirt in it and then put in in the oil bin , i guess so it looked dark??

I have dumped it onto the ground before in the past, but dont do that anymore. I now save it cause oneday i plan to fill my tractor tires with it. Anybody want to get rid of some near me, i will take it if you have it in a container.

 

[fieldserviceengineer]

For those who like a little technical reading, look up this ASTM paper entitled "Toxicity and Disposal of Engine Coolants" by R. Douglas Hudgens. Ethylene and propylene engine coolants are indeed biodegradable. The time involved for EG is around 3 days. Some waste treatment plants do allow the disposal of antifreeze providing it is not concentrate product but diluted with water to at least 50% or greater. If your waste treatment plan allows this, send the coolant with lots of water. Not all sewage plants will allow it. It not only varies by state but even by municipality. All of this assumes that the coolant contains less than 5 PPM of lead. At 5 PPM or greater lead content, engine coolant becomes a hazardous waste and must be disposed of "according to local, state, or federal laws".

Oil change facilities and others who dispose of their used engine coolant usually have to pay to have it hauled away as there may not be any available coolant recycling operation who will take used coolants. Until recycling became the industry it has for coolants, used coolants had to be hauled to a licensed incinerator operation to be burned. All at a cost to somebody. For the person who said do not let it get on the ground, the life of a spilled or leaked coolant is so short that it does not get into the ground water as the processes of biodegradation will reduce it to harmless chemicals and water in 3 days or so.

Somebody mentioned using the "pink" RV antifreeze. It is an uninhibited propylene glycol used only for freeze resistance in plumbing. It contains no inhibitors required for use in engine cooling system protection. PG is less toxic than EG. Neither is considered a poison by the Food and Drug Administration. Both have LD50 ratings that measure toxicity. PG is approximately 5 times less toxic than EG. PG is found in lotions, creams, cosmetics and in some foods. YES, that moist cake mix is moist because PG is used as a humectant (attracts and holds moisture)! Love that taste, eh?

The US on-highway truck population is in the neighborhood of 3 million (18 wheel variety). On average each of these trucks has a 12 gallon cooling system. On average, these trucks leak their entire capacity every 16 months. Yet we read of no mass poisoning of animals or wildlife attributed to EG ingestion. While that appears to be a big deal to the environment, the bio degradation takes care of that issue. Only the additives are left over. For a while the coolant industry and its customers were being blamed for the massive amounts of phosphate getting into the eco system. Turns out that more phosphate gets into the environment from cattle waste and agricultural run off, not engine coolant like first thought.

Bottom line: if you have a disposal site take it there. If you spill it or leak it, use the garden hose to water it down so that there is no standing coolant that an animal might consume. As little as one coffee cup full of EG concentrate is fatal to the average size adult. Takes less for children and small animals. If your waste treatment plant will allow sewering of used coolant, use lots of water so the bugs at the treatment plant do not get overwhelmed thus slowing the digester operations.

From Field Service Engineer who specializes in engine coolants and chemistry.

 

[CinderSchnauzer]

Somebody mentioned using the "pink" RV antifreeze. It is an uninhibited propylene glycol used only for freeze resistance in plumbing. It contains no inhibitors required for use in engine cooling system protection. PG is less toxic than EG. Neither is considered a poison by the Food and Drug Administration. Both have LD50 ratings that measure toxicity. PG is approximately 5 times less toxic than EG. PG is found in lotions, creams, cosmetics and in some foods. YES, that moist cake mix is moist because PG is used as a humectant (attracts and holds moisture)! Love that taste, eh?

The reference to using Pink was specifically in relation to winterizing marine engines / gensets / AC units during the winter layup. There is no cooling function involved since the engines are dormant for the period. In some cases the engines have closed cooling systems which contain EG and the pink is only protecting the exhaust manifolds etc. When the boat is relaunched in spring the engines are started and whatever fluid was used immediately dumps into the lake. I believe in some jurisdictions this can lead to fines if discovered. For that reason the professionals Who winterize engines (in our area) use the pink stuff.

 

[Diamondpilot]

The reference to using Pink was specifically in relation to winterizing marine engines / gensets / AC units during the winter layup. There is no cooling function involved since the engines are dormant for the period. In some cases the engines have closed cooling systems which contain EG and the pink is only protecting the exhaust manifolds etc. When the boat is relaunched in spring the engines are started and whatever fluid was used immediately dumps into the lake. I believe in some jurisdictions this can lead to fines if discovered. For that reason the professionals Who winterize engines (in our area) use the pink stuff.

This must be a regional thing. I can assure you that at the lake where I boat there are aprox 300 boats that remain on the slips though out the winter and I know for a fact the guys who winterize 75% of them use pink anti-freeze for the water systems and AC/Heat systems only. The engines and gen sets get regular anti-freeze. I have personally winterized about 15 to 20 boats per season since the late 80's and have never used anything but regular anti-freeze for engines and gen sets.

The biggest Marina in my area and in Cincy where I used to live have pits filled with 1000's of gallons of anti-freeze. They look like loading docks at a freight depo. They simply back the the trailer in far enough to submerge the water pick-up on the engine, fire it up and allow it to run for aprox 10 minutes to come up to temp then shut it down. It takes about 5 gallons to fill the average V8 inboard engine. Doing this puts lake water into the mix each time they start a engine so they simply do 10 boats or so the roll over a 55 gallon drum of anti-freeze and dump it in. Like I said these pits hold a couple thousand gallons so the mix stays pretty consistent at 50/50 and is checked daily.

Once done they are pulled out in the yard, power washed, allowed to dry, then usually shrink wrapped for the winter.



Chris

 

[clemsonfor]

For those who like a little technical reading, look up this ASTM paper entitled "Toxicity and Disposal of Engine Coolants" by R. Douglas Hudgens. Ethylene and propylene engine coolants are indeed biodegradable. The time involved for EG is around 3 days. Some waste treatment plants do allow the disposal of antifreeze providing it is not concentrate product but diluted with water to at least 50% or greater. If your waste treatment plan allows this, send the coolant with lots of water. Not all sewage plants will allow it. It not only varies by state but even by municipality. All of this assumes that the coolant contains less than 5 PPM of lead. At 5 PPM or greater lead content, engine coolant becomes a hazardous waste and must be disposed of "according to local, state, or federal laws".

Oil change facilities and others who dispose of their used engine coolant usually have to pay to have it hauled away as there may not be any available coolant recycling operation who will take used coolants. Until recycling became the industry it has for coolants, used coolants had to be hauled to a licensed incinerator operation to be burned. All at a cost to somebody. For the person who said do not let it get on the ground, the life of a spilled or leaked coolant is so short that it does not get into the ground water as the processes of biodegradation will reduce it to harmless chemicals and water in 3 days or so.

Somebody mentioned using the "pink" RV antifreeze. It is an uninhibited propylene glycol used only for freeze resistance in plumbing. It contains no inhibitors required for use in engine cooling system protection. PG is less toxic than EG. Neither is considered a poison by the Food and Drug Administration. Both have LD50 ratings that measure toxicity. PG is approximately 5 times less toxic than EG. PG is found in lotions, creams, cosmetics and in some foods. YES, that moist cake mix is moist because PG is used as a humectant (attracts and holds moisture)! Love that taste, eh?

The US on-highway truck population is in the neighborhood of 3 million (18 wheel variety). On average each of these trucks has a 12 gallon cooling system. On average, these trucks leak their entire capacity every 16 months. Yet we read of no mass poisoning of animals or wildlife attributed to EG ingestion. While that appears to be a big deal to the environment, the bio degradation takes care of that issue. Only the additives are left over. For a while the coolant industry and its customers were being blamed for the massive amounts of phosphate getting into the eco system. Turns out that more phosphate gets into the environment from cattle waste and agricultural run off, not engine coolant like first thought.

Bottom line: if you have a disposal site take it there. If you spill it or leak it, use the garden hose to water it down so that there is no standing coolant that an animal might consume. As little as one coffee cup full of EG concentrate is fatal to the average size adult. Takes less for children and small animals. If your waste treatment plant will allow sewering of used coolant, use lots of water so the bugs at the treatment plant do not get overwhelmed thus slowing the digester operations.

From Field Service Engineer who specializes in engine coolants and chemistry.

Interesting. But the first paragraph about sending it down the drain, it must be a 50%dillution or less. How can they tell or why would it matter. If you pured a 100% gallon jug of EG down the toilet if you flush once it dilutes it to less than 50% if you have old toilets like me its more like 20%. Thats without considering all the water that it will mix with in the main drain line. Im on septic so i dont do it just a little odd of a recomendation.

When i poured on the ground i always hose it down till it no longer looks green. I changed some collant onetime and where it leaked out on the ground (no catch basin under it) it did not grow grass for years in that spot. This kind of makes the 3 day think seem odd and questionable.