My staff and I spent last Saturday morning marching in the , and we were pleased to win a spot on the podium for our entry. We had a CVSan truck and Waste Management truck rolling, from which CVSan employees distributed oil recycling funnels, rags and sponges.
We love getting the chance to see and shake hands with so many Castro Valleyans as we walk the parade route. We see individual citizens every day as we work in the community, but we meet only a few people a time that way. Seeing so many of our fellow citizens in the parade is a great chance to make a connection!
Why is that connection so important? Because CVSan is the . This is our home as well as yours, and we want to see and talk to our fellow residents as often as possible. Since 1939 our sole mission has been to serve the people of Castro Valley by keeping our valley and its surrounds healthy. We do that in part by efficiently removing wastewater from homes and businesses, and arranging to have solid waste hauled away for recycling and disposal.
Plus, the parade gives us an excellent chance to deliver one key message every year to over 1,000 people. This year we focused on the dangers of putting used motor oil down your drain. Many residents of Castro Valley change their own motor oil, and .
What’s so dangerous about a bit of motor oil?
Carelessly spilled oil fouls the water supply and makes it undrinkable.
- One quart of motor oil can contaminate a million gallons of drinking water.
- The oil from one engine - four to six quarts - can produce an eight-acre oil slick.
- In short, your five quarts of used oil could make an entire reservoir unhealthy to drink.
- Put another way, CVSan moves 4 million gallons of wastewater to the each day. The oil from just one car would foul the water in the entire plant, and bring its treatment process to a halt while the “slick” gets cleaned up!
On the positive side:
Recycling used motor oil helps protect the environment while conserving a valuable petroleum resource. Your recycled oil is reused, not thrown out. That’s a few less barrels of oil that we have to import from other countries!
What you should do:
To make recycling oil (and other car fluids) easier, we have contracted with Waste Management to give those of you who do so a safer method to get that stuff off your hands:
- Drain it into a pan (as you always do)
- Drain the pan into a used one-gallon plastic milk or juice jug
- Cap the jug securely
- Seal the used oil filter in a clear plastic bag (heavyweight zip-lock storage bags will work)
- Place the jug and bag next to (not inside!) your garbage cart when you put your carts out for collection
To make this process even easier, CVSan provides free oil funnels, oil jugs, filter bags and rags. Come by our office on Marshall Street (across from RiteAid) to pick a set up. You can also order jugs for used oil and bags for used oil filters from Waste Management at 510-537-5500.
Don’t stop at the motor oil, either! You can recycle up to three (3) gallons per week of motor oil, transmission fluid, gear lube and other lubricants commonly used in cars and light trucks.
Used Oil and filters may also be dropped off at a local collection center, of which there are many in Castro Valley.
See you next year on the Boulevard!
We cannot predict what our parade theme will be next year, but we promise that we will be there, and we hope we see you along the way!
In the meantime, keep your motor oil out of the drain! If you ever have a question about wastewater quality, treatment or sewer lines, CALL US FIRST at 510-537-0757 to see if we can assist you.
