Eco-Friendly Polymer Pillow Cleans Up Contaminants in Minutes

Seddons Plant & Engineers Ltd (UK) has launched an innovative eco-friendly Polymer Pillow which is used to remove contaminants such as oil, petrol and diesel from polluted water within minutes. Designed to clean up or dewater areas such as bunds, excavations, trenches and manholes, Polymer Pillows are simply placed in contaminated water to remove hydrocarbons to non-detectable levels and prevent the release of contaminants or hazardous fluids into the environment.

Polymer Pillows are designed to allow teams working in the field to immediately resolve contamination problems without having to shut down and wait for third party vacuum trucks and other solutions to arrive. Tankers can otherwise be used to pump out the water and take it off site for disposal, but each visit can cost up to £1,000.

Small and lightweight, Polymer Pillows contain a unique blend of polymer granules that solidify into a rubber-like solid upon contact with hydrocarbons. With the capacity for each Polymer Pillow to retain up to 1 litre of hydrocarbons, they can be left in-situ or used as part of a specific job. Once the Pillows are solidified, they can be removed from water by hand and be disposed of in standard hazardous waste bins. All hydrocarbons are ‘locked in’ to the polymer with no risk of leaching out or polluting the environment. Polymer Pillows can be purchased individually at £25.00 each or in packs.

Polymer Pillows have been introduced to customers of Seddons Plant & Engineers Ltd with immediate results. One such customer is AJK Plant Hire which offers both operated and non-operated plant equipment and specialises in low ground pressure work. The company’s hire fleet is in high demand by main contractors and environmental groups due to the ability of the equipment to run in wet ground conditions. AJK’s contracting division also carries out a wide range of earthmoving, landscaping and excavation work.

Within a short period of time, the Polymer Pillows have become invaluable to AJK Plant Hire and the company no longer has to arrange costly and disruptive tanker visits to remove contaminated water.

Rob Percival, Service Manager at AJK Plant Hire said: “We were a little sceptical about the Polymer Pillows at first, however once we placed one of the Pillows into a manhole in our yard, we were amazed at the results and how quick and easy they were to dispose of. Once floating in the water in the manhole, in no time at all the Pillow had soaked up the hydrocarbons that had leaked in after heavy rain, reducing environmental risk and allowing us to deal with the issue without having to contact a third party. We now use the Polymer Pillows on several different jobs, such as cleaning up manholes and dewatering trenches and excavations. We also have a couple in our catchment pit where the plant machinery gets cleaned after every job.”

Organisations have legal and environmental responsibilities to avoid pollution occurring. Substances such as oil, diesel and petrol can cause pollution and this can happen accidentally or deliberately when substances are released to water, land or air. Those who cause pollution or allow it to occur may be committing a criminal offence and anyone involved can be prosecuted, receive a fine or even go to prison. Not only can pollutants put human health at risk, they can also affect drinking water supplies, business activities, wildlife and enjoyment of the environment.

Almost all premises produce dirty water which could cause pollution if it enters rivers, streams, ditches or groundwater. Dirty water can come from rainwater run-off from dirty areas of premises and liquid waste or trade effluent from business activities. Hydrocarbons such as fuel and oil can also spill, leak or release their contents during refuelling activities or in the event of a fire or flood.

Seddons Plant & Engineers Ltd offers a wide range of pollution prevention and spill clean-up products from branches nationwide, including Spill Kits, Filters and the multi award-winning EnviroPad, the state-of-the-art method of spill containment which is an ideal replacement for traditional drip trays.