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Tipping Ash Into The Canal


MustyBoat

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Hello all,

 

I have a question about where people put their ash from their coal burners. I am new to boating and have been given two completely opposite opinions about getting rid of ash (from coal/wood):

 

"everyone tips it into the canal"

"it's bad to tip it into the canal - cool it and put it in general waste"

 

Is there anyone who can give any information about this? I have done tons of research but still no conclusive answer to be found. Would be good to have a link to an authoritative article regarding the subject.

 

Main questions about it:

 

- what is bad about tipping it into the canal? Does it affect wildlife etc?

- is putting it in the bin the normal alternative?

 

I understand that chemicals etc in ash are harmful if consumed, however people are already careful in the canal when it comes to Viles disease etc, and generally avoid getting in. So I'm mainly concerned about if it affects the natural wildlife in the canal.

 

Please bear in mind I'm new to this and would just like some advice! I hope I'm not opening up a can of worms.

 

Thank you so much

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At the very least, tipping it into the canal will mean more silt on the bottom, and therefore less navigation eventually... Ash is also very alkaline, so if everyone did that, it would change the pH of the canal, which will harm wildlife, flora and fauna etc..

 

Cool it and put it in the bin. Leave it at least a day in a metal bucket before putting it in the bin. Surprising how long it stays hot.

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At the very least, tipping it into the canal will mean more silt on the bottom, and therefore less navigation eventually... Ash is also very alkaline, so if everyone did that, it would change the pH of the canal, which will harm wildlife, flora and fauna etc..

 

Cool it and put it in the bin. Leave it at least a day in a metal bucket before putting it in the bin. Surprising how long it stays hot.

 

Yes don't try and put it in a plastic carrier bag or rubbish bag when you 'think' it might be cooled enough.....

 

don't ask how I know this.

 

(Same goes for BBQ charcoal too)

Edited by The Dog House
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Yes it affects wildlife (though not necessarily badly) but better scattered about the cut and diluted than concentrated in land-fill....IN MY OPINION.

 

 

Having seen this debate run here several times now you have, indeed, opened a can of worms.

 

Welcome to the forum!

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Yes I've seen this debate on here a few times - with yourself Carl! I noticed that there was no real 'one way' to do it, but then perhaps people will always disagree and do things differently.

 

The thing I'm really worried about is affecting the nature of the canal, as I do love it and wish to protect it rather than pollute. I just want to know if it is indeed polluting!

 

Thank you for your welcome, and both of you for commenting. smile.png

Edited by MustyBoat
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Get a metal bucket and tip it in to cool before either sprinkling it in the hedge (I mean sprinkling not dumping it in a big pile) or, if there is not a convenient spot to do so without spoiling the local flora and fauna dispose of it in the waste.

 

One word of warning. ensure the metal bucket not only away from any combustible material but also is away from any open vents on your boat while the ashes are left to cool. - out on the towpath - not in the cratch! The ashes will be giving off CO while cooling and you don't want that stuff inside your boat!

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Get a metal bucket and tip it in to cool before either sprinkling it in the hedge (I mean sprinkling not dumping it in a big pile) or, if there is not a convenient spot to do so without spoiling the local flora and fauna dispose of it in the waste.

 

One word of warning. ensure the metal bucket not only away from any combustible material but also is away from any open vents on your boat while the ashes are left to cool. - out on the towpath - not in the cratch! The ashes will be giving off CO while cooling and you don't want that stuff inside your boat!

And not standing on a wooden jetty

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Would wrapping it up in newspaper prior to binning it help? I remember my mum doing that when emptying the grate of the fire at home? Of course had allow the ashes to cool for about 24hrs before doing this! However guess that when using a solid fuel stove every day to keep boat warm during winter then there is not time to keep the ashes cooling in the grate before emptying! Fire Bucket and left on the towpath to cool seems best option before safe disposal sounds best.

 

agree on not puttiing in the cratch or inside of the boat. Last summer was staying at a new forrest campsite when someone left their BBQ inside the tent flaps overnight. Sadly a little girl died due to CO2 poisoning :(

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Get a metal bucket and tip it in to cool before either sprinkling it in the hedge (I mean sprinkling not dumping it in a big pile) ...

 

Perhaps one could use one of these: http://www.diy.com/nav/garden/garden-care-watering/lawn-care/lawn_spreaders/EverGreen-Easy-Spreader-Plus-11327693 to do the sprinkle thing? (if Sally is busy)

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The thing I'm really worried about is affecting the nature of the canal, as I do love it and wish to protect it rather than pollute. I just want to know if it is indeed polluting!

 

Everything we do affects wildlife but the canals are far cleaner than they used to be despite far more people using them.

 

I have grave concerns about the obsession with "bag it and bin it" of everything that is perceived to be unpleasant as I have had professional dealings with land-fills and their leachates in the past and seeing the localised damage that concentrating potentially hazardous substances can cause.

 

Nature is a pretty good self-healer as long as we don't throw vast quantities of crap at it, all in one place.

 

My order of preference for disposal is: Down the side of the (wooden) boat if it's leaking; in potholes in the towpath if there are any; in the hedge if available; straight in the cut.

 

I never send stuff to landfill if at all possible and I would rather trust my own disposal methods than trust the authorities and their pretty empty "recycling" policies.

  • Greenie 1
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Thank you everyone. Like you Carl I do try to reduce the stuff I send to landfill, but it's hard to know if tipping it into the canal is better or just as bad!

 

On a (kind of) different topic, I am absolutely shocked at the litter that is willingly thrown into the canal - plastic bottles, bags, plastic packaging, it's awful. Not sure what one can do about it! I see people just chuck it in like it's a massive bin for them.


Hi FadeToScarlett,

 

Thanks for your reply, that's a good idea about tipping it onto the ash!

 

I live on a residential private mooring so not sure how people would feel about me tipping it onto the towpath every time..

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Tip it in upstream of the nearest lock gate, or fill holes on the towpath with it.

 

On the tarmaccadamed path next to my normal mooring, I put hot ash onto the path when it's icy to de ice it.

 

Actually I've never thought of doing this and we have a fair few potholes on the road on our mooring.

 

cheers.gif

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Not sure what one can do about it!

I pick it out if I can and leave it at the next rubbish point.

 

I once arrived at Sutton Stop with a mattress, enough bubblewrap to pack and post the boat, a huge telly and several carrier and bin bags of other folks' rubbish.

 

The lockie there stopped me and told me I couldn't dump it at the rubbish point but, after explaining that it wasn't mine, he changed his mind and even boated back with me to the fridge freezer that I couldn't get into the hold on my own.

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On a (kind of) different topic, I am absolutely shocked at the litter that is willingly thrown into the canal - plastic bottles, bags, plastic packaging, it's awful.

 

I'm not convinced that most of that stuff is 'willingly thrown into the canal'. It is all very light and easily moved about by the wind. I suspect that a lot of it comes from elsewhere, but once it is the cut, it stays there.

 

Richard

Edited by RLWP
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Yes I understand that a great deal of the rubbish is blown in (especially this morning!!) but I do unfortunately see many people just chucking stuff in, even cars going across bridges and chucking bags of rubbish out of the windows! Not sure who cleans this up, but like you Carl if I can get to it I will.

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A few thoughts enter my head about ash.

 

First there is continual complaining about lack of dredging, with the best will in the world ash ( particularly not from wood ) must be slowly adding to the problem.

 

Second, as a boy all the gardens around us had paths which were formed from the ash out of the grates, they were good paths because no weeds grew in them. This suggests to me that the canal environment isn't the best place for it as it obviously had an effect on the environment.

 

Thirdly the area I lived in had a lot of old sandstone quarries which were slowly being used as landfill. The majority of the waste in the "ash bins" in those days was coal ash. The local water courses didn't become polluted and the land is now very fertile growing crops and raising animals. I would think there are many nastier things go into land fill these days.

 

Before anyone tries to point out some of my above post seems contradictory my observations suggest (to me at least) coal ash is short term not good for living things but over time particularly when buried below root level it doesn't seem to cause any problems.

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Ash is typically slightly above 7 in pH (ie mildly alkaline, N.V. less than 1 though) and rich in potassium, so it would potentially do good to land, rather than bad. So it going into landfill will have a net positive benefit to the land. It will also have a BOD of near zero too, so a non-issue for polluting anywhere. Its the relative stability of it which puts me off putting it into the canal - its not particularly active, so it will simply sit there and add to the silt etc. Much better in landfill/rubbish bins.

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Ash is typically slightly above 7 in pH (ie mildly alkaline, N.V. less than 1 though) and rich in potassium, so it would potentially do good to land, rather than bad. So it going into landfill will have a net positive benefit to the land. It will also have a BOD of near zero too, so a non-issue for polluting anywhere. Its the relative stability of it which puts me off putting it into the canal - its not particularly active, so it will simply sit there and add to the silt etc. Much better in landfill/rubbish bins.

Ash contains significant concentrations of aluminum, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, iron, lead, nickle, sodium, selenium, vanadium and zinc which, in my opinion, would be far better distributed in smaller concentrations where Nature can deal with them than in large concentrations in landfill.

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I'm not convinced that most of that stuff is 'willingly thrown into the canal'. It is all very light and easily moved about by the wind. I suspect that a lot of it comes from elsewhere, but once it is the cut, it stays there.

 

Richard

 

My back fan would contest the truth of that last bit.

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