21 September 2009
A new oil care advice leaflet has been launched which provides practical advice for people who work with domestic oil tanks and boilers. The leaflet includes information on how to prevent oil pollution and what to do when oil leaks occur, as well as listing the top 10 common causes of oil loss from domestic heating systems.
The leaflet supports other outputs of the Oil Care Campaign including:
- increased dialogue and cooperation between Environmental Protection, fuel distribution companies and heating engineers
- the distribution of advisory oil tank stickers to householders with domestic oil tanks
- a training exercise for people working with oil held in cooperation with Jersey Water
Head of Water Resources, Environmental Protection, Dr Tim du Feu said, "Since the launch of the Oil Care Campaign in 2008, we are noticing an encouraging change in people’s attitudes to oil pollution from domestic tanks. There has been a marked increase in the number of people phoning in pollution incidents using the information from their oil tank sticker. Additionally there has been an increase in people changing old oil tanks to more environmentally friendly tanks."
The new oil care leaflets are freely available from offices of the Planning and Environment Department (South Hill or Howard Davis Farm), from plumbing wholesalers or via Environmental Protection’s website.
Oil care leaflet - Environmental Protection
Should oil leaks occur, or if people would like any advice regarding pollution, please contact the Water Pollution Hotline (tel 709535).
‘Top-ten’ causes of leaks from domestic oil heating systems
- Sun bleaching/cracking of plastic tanks
- Rusty tanks
- Rusty or corroded feed pipes, couplings or valves
- Rusty/buried oil filter bowl
- Accidental damage to underground pipework (for example, whilst gardening)
- Tanks without a solid base and/or plinth or unprotected in areas of heavy traffic
- Knocked or not properly secured sight gauge on the tank
- Inadequate or missing bund (concrete basin around the tank to contain leaking oil) for single skinned tanks
- Bund full of water or rubbish
- Hole in bund
Preventable oil pollution incidents
The majority of oil pollution incidents which occurred in 2008 could have been prevented had the correct pollution prevention measures been in place. Simple prevention measures include, checking oil tanks for rust or splitting, cleaning debris from around the filter bowl to prevent it rusting, ensuring that the bund is water tight and not full of rubbish. A total of 46 incidents of leaking oil could have been prevented in 2008 had these simple precautionary measures been undertaken.
Distribution of Oil Care stickers
An Oil Care sticker has been distributed by the fuel companies to the majority of households that have a domestic oil tank. The sticker highlights helpful advice to help prevent pollution. The sticker is available free to all oil tank owners and can be collected from the oil companies and the Planning and Environment Department offices.
Oil Care Group
The Oil Care Group was established in 2008 in conjunction with Environmental Protection, Planning and Environment Department. The group provides a forum for the oil industry (including the Island’s three fuel distributors and a number of boiler engineers) and Environmental Protection to discuss oil related issues, develop environmental best practice and provide information to the public with regard to reducing the risk of oil pollution of the aquatic environment.
The Code of Best Practice – pollution prevention leaflet (pdf, size: 1,000kb) (opens in new window)
gov.je