- Contaminating lakes and other swimming areas with high amounts of zinc and iron, which have proven to cause diabetes, cancer, skin irritation and other adverse side effects
- Exposing fresh waterway to corrosive, caustic concrete washout water and materials that may result in all kinds of damage to ecosystems
- Allowing calcium, magnesium oxide, and calcium – conventional ingredients in ready-mix concrete – to infiltrate our soil systems
Tag: ConcreteRecycling
The Pumper Dump Solution
If you have arrived here after reading, and hopefully enjoying the previous posts, I would like to say thank you.
The story began many, many years ago, while walking in concrete slurry and mud, I thought there had to be a safer, cleaner way to deal with the concrete washout waste after washing a concrete pump.
So, I took to paper and came up with my concept.
Just like the concreters have moved on from pushing wheelbarrows, PumperDump has grown to offer more than just a bin service.
When using PumperDump we assist you to:
- Avoid using plastic for washout trays
- Avoid the use of your onsite plant equipment
- Save your manual labour time and cost to clean up messes
- Eliminate extra tip fees
- Better manage any water runoff and possible pollution infringements
- Give recyclers an uncontaminated product to recycle
- Reduce unnecessary carbon emissions
- Introduce sustainable practices while dealing with concrete waste
- Improve onsite safety
- One price no hidden costs
Just like the sustainability Venn diagram shows, sustainability covers many areas and we have grown and innovated through constant dialog with builders, assisting them to solve their problems, and in doing that, we have also been able to assist them with their sustainability goals.
It looks simple and is simple, but what this bin can offer is a lot more.
This following chart compares the process and time builders take to deal with the washout tray onsite compared to using PumperDump. It shows the extra plant machinery handling and truck movements taken when done the traditional way.
PumperDump’s Concrete Waste Separation Unit, (CWSU) as we call it, has a 1m3 volume, with an inner tray to capture the concrete and an outer tray to store the wash water to be processed and recycled. PumperDump trays have a larger volume than the standard tray and yes, they can also be overfilled, but the outer tray gives room for the water and a better indication of when the limit will be reached.
We give builders back their skip bin volume for real rubbish, keeping any overweight charges to a minimum and help them mitigate the risk of fines with no more water running out of transported skips.
We don’t tie up onsite plant leaving them to be better utilised for onsite operations.
PumperDump’s no plastic policy delivers the recycler an uncontaminated concrete waste. Instead of plastic, we use our specially formulated water-based concrete release agent on all our bins.
We offer certificates on the concrete and water collected and recycled and the volume of plastic diverted from landfill.
Even when construction has commenced, some builders and concreters are reluctant to use PumperDump, believing it’s an extra cost without seeing the many hidden costs already associated with the cleaning and disposal of concrete waste.
My story goes, from walking through concrete slurry and mud after washing a concrete pump, to starting and growing PumperDump, to now offering a range of services that will help you to a safer more sustainable concrete pumping 21th century.
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Challenges and Risks of Working with Concrete
Hello again, as mentioned in our introductory post, over the years we have had feedback from different builders in the industry about their problems. As a growing company with a specialised service, we have used the feedback to help guide our growth to better serve the construction industry and assist in solving the problems and associated costs in that specific sector and making the full process sustainable.
Here are some of the things we have learned
- The cost of waste. The most generally talked about problem, is the increase in cost of waste over the years. Builders on larger sites have the option of getting different skip bins to separate waste streams and increase recycling and reducing the amount of waste going to landfill. The builders on confined spaces, besides having a logistical problem, need to reduce the amount of waste produced on their site.
- Some builders tell us that some skip bin companies are having an issue with wet concrete being tipped into their skips. This wet concrete when dried is getting stuck to the inside of the skip and causing a problem when they attempt to tip. Besides getting stuck in the bin, the concrete also binds to the general waste making the separation of waste for recycling difficult, resulting in sending more concrete to land fill.
- After a concrete pump has been washed and the washout water hasn’t been contained properly, council fines are a major concern. There is also the labour and time to clean up the mess and the cost can add up.
- Hidden costs can make a budget blow out, so more builders are calculating their hidden costs associated with crane or manitou time relating to the movements in delivering and emptying the concrete washout tray, and also the waste cost when tipping the concrete into the onsite skip. There is also the time in finding storage space for the washout tray to live.
- Sustainability is slowly becoming more important in the construction industry. Some of you may be nodding in agreement, some may be thinking not the greenies again! Sustainability encompasses, social, environmental, and economic factors. Those ahead of the curve may be looking for new systems to assist them to advance in that area.
- Plastic waste is becoming a bigger concern to some in the construction industry as a lot is used when pumping concrete. The contamination of plastic in concrete for recyclers is becoming a bigger problem as recycling of a clean product can make money for some and save money for others. Companies concerned in sustainable practices may be interested in reducing the use of plastic in this area.
As we go through the different methods used by different builders, I’ll leave it up to you to make your own mind up. Maybe you have done the same or maybe you have found a different method that has helped you make some savings. Feel free to comment as we are here to help each other out.
Residential Building Waste
Let’s start with this residential builder. They have decided to contain their washout waste by lining the street with plastic. The common feedback from different builders when shown this shot, is about the hard labour needed to break up and remove the concrete. There is also the time to go to the tip and back, with tips fees, and that time could be better spent out on their boat, fishing! Jokes aside, each of us will have a thought on the cost of time and labour and how each of those can be spent productively.
EPA Fines and Personal Risk
There is the possible risk of a fine with this waste left on the road, not only as a driver’s hazard, but when the water is released, even though it would be clear, is still very high in pH and would run into the stormwater.
No crane or manitou, just plastic, some shovels, a wheelbarrow and a pile of concrete and couple of young blokes, hopefully no bad backs, and off we go. Not sure what they will be doing with the water?
Next post, the problem with plastic washout bags.
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