Pit Cleaners -- specific to Houston Area

[bigjws]

I know this doesn't apply to most of you on the forum, but I think there are a few Houston area guys on here. Just wondering what company you are using for pit cleaning, and how much (per gallon) you pay. It seems the prices to dump our car wash grit 'waste' has skyrocketed lately, causing the pit companies to raise their prices .. I don't mind paying enough for someone to make a living, but I don't like them getting rich just on me. I've been using Evergreen (Hoa Tran) for years -- he's been great, and I'd love to stay with him -- but he's had to go up 150% in the past 2 months. We're up to about $0.92/gallon .. is that around what the rest of you in the area are paying? Thanks for the info!

 

[Randy]

Pit pumping is a huge problem. I contacted one of my contacts in Houston and he said he get calls almost daily from car wash operators looking for someone affordable to pump there pits. In our area we have to have our pit sludge tested, which is very expensive. It costs around $800 for the lab test. Once we get the EPA certificate that the sludge is clean from the lab we call the pumper truck. It costs around $1500 to have the pits pumped and to have the sludge disposed of at a licensed EPA facility.

 

[Car_Wash_Guy]

Can you dig the mud and dispose of it yourself?

 

[bigjws]

Digging it out isn't the problem, it's the disposal. Years ago we had a suction trailer and did all the pits ourselves, but the City decided we couldn't dump the mud on the ground .. so now it's got to be transported to a facility. I understand this with the 'grease' traps I have before it goes to the city sewer, however the 'grit' traps in the bays probably have less oil/etc than the runoff water from the streets after a rain.

 

[MEP001]

You can dig the mud out and let it dry on the bay floor, then you can shovel it into your dumpster. That's still legal. It just has to dry somewhere so that any liquid can drain to a sanitary sewer.

 

[Main Street Carwash]

I use Corey Peters at Affordable Environmental 832-277-2739. He did my pits at one wash about 6 months ago. Cost was $1500 per 4000 gallon truck load and it took one load for a 5 bay with very full pits.