How to Dispose of Oily Water (Recycling, Treatment + More)

Oily water isn’t always safe to just pour down the drain. If you have oily water you need to dispose of, there is a right way to do it. Don’t pour it into your kitchen sink or flush it in the toilet. That may lead to serious issues with your pipes. You can dispose of it in a designated container, into the trash, or by reusing it, in some cases.

Cooking and garage projects often leave behind oily water that has to go somewhere. It’s important that you dispose of it the correct way.

In this article, we’re exploring different options for disposing of oily water safely. Stay tuned for what we discovered.

Table of Contents

What Causes Oily Water at Home?

When you cook, some foods produce oily wastewater that needs to be disposed of. Sometimes this is referred to as bilge water. For our purposes, we’ll call it oily water.

Oily water resulting from cooking has to go somewhere when you’re finished with it. We’ll discuss where to put it in the next section.

You may have oily water left after completing some home projects, as well. So, where do you dump it when you’re ready to get rid of it?

How to Dispose of Oily Water

There are some ways to get rid of oily water you’re left with in your home. Read on for a few good methods.

Use a Designated Container

You can pour oily water into a designated container that you’ll dispose of later in the garbage. You should use a container that’s non-recyclable.

A few good options for this include styrofoam, cardboard milk cartons, and paper containers lined with plastic or wax. Many people repurpose their takeout containers for this. It’s best to use something with a lid, also.

Combine Oily Water with Another Material

Some materials are good at soaking up liquid. For instance, if you have a cat, you’re familiar with cat litter and you likely have some at your home. You can pour oily water over cat litter and allow it to soak in. Then dispose of the cat litter as you normally would. Don’t pour the water into cat litter your cat is still using, though.

You can use this same method with sand or sawdust you have around your property.

Recycle Used Oily Water

When you’re left with oily water after a cooking session, you can dump it into a container with a lid and keep it to use again. Often people will reuse cooking oil to give food more flavor.

You can also recycle used oily water and grease through programs established by cities and states for this purpose. The used oily water gets processed and turned into biodiesel. Biodiesel burns clean and fuels some city and government vehicles as an effort to preserve other fuels and reduce emissions.

Can I Dispose of Oily Water in the Sink?

If you have just a tiny bit of oily water to get rid of, then it’s probably ok to dump that down the sink with the faucet running.

However, if the amount of oily water is more substantial, it’s not a good idea to put it down the sink.

Oily water can cause clogging in drains and pipes. When the oil cools, it can solidify into a gel-like substance that sticks to the pipe walls.

As more and more oily water gets dumped down the drain, more of it gets stuck and solidifies, eventually blocking the entire pipe.

Oily water from home projects or in the garage should never be dumped in your sink. That could expose you and your family to harmful chemicals.

Can I Dispose of Oily Water in the Toilet?

You shouldn’t put oily water in your toilet either. The same thing can happen with the clogging of pipes if you flush oily water down the toilet. The oil can cool and solidify causing a blockage.

Oily water coming from the garage or projects in your home should not be flushed in a toilet because that causes harmful chemicals to end up in the sewer system.

Hazardous Oily Water

Some oily water contains hazardous materials in it. If that’s the case, you have to have a specialty company dispose of that wastewater for you.

You run the risk of contaminating the water and sewers in your community if you don’t dispose of this type of waste appropriately.

What Can I Pour Hot Oil and Grease Into?

You wouldn’t want to pour hot oil or grease into Styrofoam. It’s best to pour it into a metal can or a glass jar. Be careful when you pour it so it doesn’t splatter or spill onto your skin and burn you.

Once it’s cooled off, you can save it to reuse or dispose of it accordingly.

If there’s more oil in it than water, it may solidify completely into a gel. Then, you can dispose of it safely in the garbage.

Wrap Up

It’s important to dispose of oily water in the correct manner. Pouring waste like this down your sink drains or into your toilet may result in a clogging of your pipes.

That can lead to some costly repairs if the blockage is bad enough.

It’s also not good to expose your family to oily water that comes from a household or garage project. That kind of oily water has chemicals in it that could cause serious health issues.

The bottom line is you need to be responsible when you’re disposing of any oily water.

References

https://www.thespruceeats.com/how-do-i-dispose-of-used-cooking-oil-908995

https://www.thekitchn.com/best-way-to-deal-with-cooking-grease-2308593