Oil can be harmful to humans and pets and to the environment as it contains high levels of chemicals which have an adverse effect on human health. Symptoms include drowsiness, nausea, vomiting and general feelings of lethargy. The most important thing to remember is that the quicker you report your spill to IDUNLA Ltd, the sooner you prevent further damage to your familie’s health and the health of people in the immediate area of the spill. You should never touch the oil if possible, but the safest thing to do is to immediately phone our team of experts who will swiftly solve the problem for you.
Unfortunately the answer is yes. As oil spills often occur along the pipes between your cooker or boiler and your oil storage tank, the oil will immediately seep down into the foundations of your home. Because of the porous nature of the materials used to construct your home, this means that the oil can penetrate the blocks and concrete structure including timber beams etc which can in turn lead to very extensive structural repairs. This is an area where IDUNAL LTD excels as their team consists of structural engineers, Restoration experts, Health and Safety specialists and environmental scientists who will ensure that your home is restored to its original state as soon as possible and most importantly ensure that the spill is completely remediated with no oil residue existing in or around your home.
Guess you’re in a rush so I’ll cut to the chase. This applies to domestic and commercial leaks, and most of it is common sense.
The first thing for you to think about, “is it safe”? If there is a fire risk, or for example the vapours are overwhelming, then stay safe, keep clear and call the fire brigade.
If there is no obvious reason to worry then phone an expert (heating engineer, spill responder, your insurer, and/or environment agency) and find out to do to make sure that risks have been dealt with.
Here are a few quick fixes which may help reduce the damage caused-
Solution 1– Turn off the source- Find the tank, find the outlet(s), all should be fitted with a stop tap, twist the tap until it closes and stops the flow. If possible collect the oil in any available containers e.g. bins, or restrict the movement of the oil as best and safely as possible.
Solution 2– The tank is leaking- Decant(transfer) oil in to a suitable container to below the level of the leak.
Solution 3– Repair the leak temporarily (or permanently if you’re skilled enough, I’d guess skilled people won’t be searching the internet for this answer though??). SOAP is often the best answer, especially for oil tanks, jam solid soap into the crack, best applied like you would grate cheese, push the soap across the crack forcing soap to block the gap and stop the leak. Please don’t try liquid soap….
A final tip- cat litter is pretty good at absorbing oil.
Heating oil leaks can be sudden or happen over a period of time and with domestic heating oil they are normally found coming from the tank, valves or the supply line. As most domestic heating oil tanks are located in the garden or outdoor areas, the potential for damage to the environment can be great.
If you suffer from a leak or spill from your domestic heating oil tank, it is important that you deal with it quickly and correctly to avoid damage to the environment. We have put together a list of top tips to help if you detect a leak or spill:
Turn off the stop tap at the source to prevent any further flow
Prevent the spill from entering nearby ground water such as drains, rivers or soaking into the ground by using sand or soil to absorb the heating oil. You can buy oil spill kits that include drain blockers, leak sealing putty and sorbent materials to deal with leaks and spills.
Prevent the spill from entering nearby buildings with sand or soil.
Try to establish how much oil has been lost by checking the level on the tank and thinking about usage and when you last had a delivery. This may be useful to the various agencies and contractors you need to speak to.
If heating oil has entered a nearby building and resulted in fumes or contamination of the drinking water contact your local Environmental Health Officer.
If the leak is the coming from a broken seal on a plastic tank you may be able to initiate a temporary repair on the seal by rubbing some soap into the area that has broken.
Don’t try washing away the leak with detergent or water as this can make the problem worse and could lead to the oil entering nearby ground water.
Contact a local heating oil supplier to arrange to have the remainder of your oil removed until you can have the leak repaired.
Contact your insurance company as soon as possible to notify them of the leak and get advice on your cover. Please note that they won’t cover tanks or pipes that have not been maintained properly or are in a poor condition.
Make sure any repairs are made by a registered engineer.
Once you have had your heating oil leak repaired, you can arrange with your heating oil supplier to have your oil delivered.