Jet vac tankers operated by Lanes Group plc have been used to fill fuel storage tanks with water so construction workers can begin a project to refurbish a filling station.
The safety measure is needed to eliminate any residual risk of fumes in the empty tanks igniting while the filling station, in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, is being modernised and refitted.
Retail and forecourt construction specialist William Southern had a window of just one day to fill the fuel storage tanks, and turned to Lanes to carry out the task.
A specialist fuel management company first removed all fuel, cleaned the tanks, then surveyed them. This gave the garage owner assurance that they were ready for Lanes to take the next step, by filling them with water.
Following the completion of a specific risk assessment and method statement, three Lanes jet vac tankers operated in relay to pump 127,000 litres of water into the underground fuel tanks at the filling station.
Each jet vac tanker had to empty five loads of water to complete the task.
Once renovation work has been completed, Lanes will vacuum the water out of the fuel storage tanks, and take it to an authorised waste site for safe disposal.
