What Is Wet-Waste Slurry, And What Is The Best Way To Dispose Of It?

Road and stormwater projects will generate a type of material called wet-waste slurry. This debris needs to be disposed of correctly, both to keep your project running smoothly and for health and safety reasons. Wet-waste slurry management in Melbourne needs to be handled very deliberately, due to the unique and delicate waterways that are spread throughout the city and wider suburbs. 

M. Tucker and Sons have created an effective process and modern waste disposal facility designed to recycle the debris generated from these types of projects. We’re going to explain what you need to know about wet-waste slurry, including what it is and the right and wrong ways to dispose of it, including how we can help.

What is Wet-Waste Slurry?

Wet-waste slurry can come in many different forms, depending on what it is made from. It is a thick and opaque liquid that contains dirt, water and possibly a number of chemicals, depending on its origin. Wet-waste slurry can come from a variety of sources, including:

1. Non Destructive Digging (NDD)

2. Roadside Drain Waste

3. Stormwater Drains

4. Drilling Waste

5. Gross Pollutant Traps

Techniques like NDD use high-pressure hoses to dislodge dirt from around delicate objects like pipes and cables. This leaves the underground objects intact, but also generates a lot of wet-waste slurry in the process. Any wet-waste slurry that incorrectly makes its way into stormwater drains has the potential to cause blockages or floods, so disposing of it the right way is essential to keeping our civic drainage systems functioning correctly.

No matter the origin of your wet-waste slurry, it must always be disposed of responsibly.

How Should Wet-Waste Slurry be Disposed of?

When you have excess wet-waste slurry and sludges on your job site, using the correct disposal methods is key for a number of reasons. Obviously you don’t want excess liquid slurry just sitting around your site, but disposing of it incorrectly can also lead to big fines from the Environment Protection Authority in Victoria of up to several thousand dollars.

Safe wet-waste slurry disposal starts by placing it in a slurry bin. These wide, flat bins are extremely strong and can hold the wet-waste slurry safely on-site. When the bin is full, it will be loaded onto a truck and transported to a waste disposal facility that can safely treat and dispose of the wet-waste slurry. Depending on the facility, parts of the wet-waste slurry may be able to be recycled and used again for other purposes.

You can learn more about how waste codes are defined under the Environment Protection Regulations 2021 using this publication.

Do you need to hire slurry bins in Cranbourne, Pakenham or Dandenong? M. Tucker and Sons can help!

Ways You Should Never Dispose of Wet-Waste Slurry

Wet-waste slurry may seem like an easy material to empty into your local stormwater drain and leave, but doing so can be disastrous. Depending on your project and the other types of tools and materials you are using, wet-waste slurry can be hazardous and affect the water, soil, vegetation and animal life in a wide area around your worksite.

Perhaps the most important reason we need to dispose of wet-waste slurry correctly is the outstanding harm it can cause to the environment. Wet-waste slurry can cause damage if it comes into contact directly with flora and fauna, but even more so if it makes its way into your local drain systems. Wet-waste slurry that is just dirt and water might not cause any hugely problematic effects, but if you’ve created wet-waste slurry at a site with lingering chemicals or strong minerals in the soil, then these chemicals can cause adverse effects elsewhere if it is incorrectly disposed of.

1. Animals and Water: When wet-waste slurry makes its way into any waterway–that includes everything from rivers and lakes to stormwater drains and groundwater–it may cause its pH levels to rise. This can affect creatures that drink from these areas, as well as marine life living inside.

Wet-waste slurry can even release nutrients as it decomposes, encouraging algae growth in water that depletes oxygen in the water and makes it uninhabitable for fish and other marine creatures to survive in. For more information on this process, check out this article from Agriculture Victoria on Blue-Green Algae And Irrigation Water.

2. Vegetation and Soil: Hosing down surfaces with wet-waste slurry on them in gardens and lawns is no better than forcing it into a drain, as any wet-waste slurry that seeps into soil can change its chemical composition. If the wet-waste slurry has the wrong kinds of chemicals mixed into it, this can hinder new plant growth and even kill existing plant life.

Disposing of wet-waste slurry into soil, water or the sewer can cause great harm and can also lead to hefty fines if you’re caught. Play it safe by always disposing of your wet-waste slurry responsibly into a slurry bin.

You can learn more about your obligations as a business to the environment by reading the article titled Understanding Your Environmental Obligations from the EPA Victoria.

Use our slurry bins for Croydon, Berwick and Narre Warren projects to make sure your wet-waste slurry is disposed of correctly!

How M. Tucker Manages Wet-Waste Slurry Waste Management in Melbourne

If you’re planning any sort of project that could generate wet-waste slurry, then you’ll want to look into slurry bin hire in Victoria. At M. Tucker and Sons, we are proud to offer our clients our innovative slurry bins for Melbourne projects that need reliable slurry containment and disposal. 

Our service can increase the productivity of your job, while also reducing costs! This is because using our slurry bins for your sites allows contractors and hydro excavators to stay on site for longer, rather than having to run back and forth disposing of your slurry. Simply have the on-site van units tip your wet-waste slurry into our 10,000L surrey bin and we can transfer it to our EPA licensed waste treatment facility.

Here are some of the other benefits you get when you choose us for your wet-waste slurry bins in Melbourne:

1. A faster job time, as workers can spend more time getting things done than transporting and travelling with the slurry. Our bins can help eliminate any delays that may occur from organising independent wet-waste slurry disposal.
2. Less waste-carrying vehicles on the road means less chance of an extremely heavy vehicle with slurry bins potentially causing damage during transit. Our bins can be stacked and transported, meaning fewer trips for these vehicles.
3. We can offer multiple bins for large or long-term construction projects to safely store vast amounts of wet-waste slurry. You won’t need to stress about running out of space in your slurry bin.
4. Take advantage of our 24/7 scheduling so you can get slurry bins right when you need them. Construction and civil project works can start at odd hours, so you’ll need slurry bins on hand at all times.

We can make certain that all the wet-waste slurry generated by your roadside or stormwater project is correctly disposed of at our facility. We will assess and categorise your wet-waste slurry for the right type of disposal, as per the EPA’s guidelines.

Read more about M. Tucker and Sons’ Waste Disposal Facility here.

Choose M. Tucker and Sons for Slurry Bins and Waste Management in Victoria

Do you need assistance with your slurry waste management in Melbourne? M. Tucker and Sons can provide the slurry bins and disposal services you need to remove any lingering wet-waste slurry and get your project completed safely.

Call us on 03 9736 3439 or make an online enquiry if you need more information about our slurry bins hire in Victoria or if you’d like to book any of our services. We can also help with a range of other types of projects, including vacuum loading, trenchless pipe repair and pipe rehabilitation.

M. Tucker and Sons is a family-owned business that has been providing high-quality civil and trenchless drainage services across the country since 1989. We’ve worked across Australia and New Zealand for everything from expansive, multi-tiered businesses to small local providers. Trust us for any wet-waste slurry waste management in Melbourne that you need, and you won’t be disappointed.