Date:         Mon, 8 May 1995 12:12:11 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         wabbott@townshend.Corp.Megatest.COM (William Abbott)
Subject:      Brake Fluid and Coolant disposal

	Jon,
	I too have read that we're not supposed to allow car-wash runnoff
to go down the storm sewer. I can actually see the point- dishwashing
runoff goes through sewage treatment which includes re-turging (?) to
keep the waste water from foaming... The recomended solution is a good
one: Park the car over a lawn or other area. I don't think Ivory liquid is
going to make my front yard a superfund site. And rain not withstanding, I
hate to whoosh water down the storm drain! My lawn is WIP at the moment, so
I park over the 'beauty strip' between street and sidewalk.

	Folks,
	Santa Clara Country residents may make an appointment to 
give brake fluid and coolant to the toxic waste people by calling:
408 299 7300 for an appointment. 

	I called at 11:55 and waited about 5 minutes to speak to an operator.
I confirmed that they take brake fluid, coolant, and would continue to
do so for the forseen future. The woman I spoke to was happy for more
people to know they were there.

	You can drop off up to 5 gallons of "household" liquid toxic waste 
PER TRIP at their roving collection centers. There is no limit on the 
ammount you give them in a period of time, but they don't want you driving 
around with more than 5 gallons at a time.

	You must tell them who you are, what you're bringing and how much.
They send you an 'invitation' which you present to the person at
the time slot they give you for the collection site. You open your 
vehicle and they take what you've got. Be nice and CLEARLY label
anything that isn't in its own bottle.

	My own PITA threshold is slightly different: I have a dedicated 
funnel for pouring oil out of my drip pan into the gallon 'milk' bottles- 
I've got a low-tech drip-pan and the funnel is neccessary, plus I can leave 
the plastic bottles that new oil comes in neck-down in the funnel for a week 
and they drain *completely*.

	San Jose recycling takes oil at curb-side but prefers 1 gallon
containers, which they trade you straight across for one of their 'milk'
bottles. They also take empty oil bottles, as empties, so I save 
brake fluid bottles and coolant bottles for reuse and everything stays neat. 

	Happy Motoring!
	Bill