what do you do with diesel drained from filters?

So, I drain my Racors from time to time to check for water and grunge. My problem is what to do with the sample. What do you all do? I've soaked it up in paper towels and oil diapers and then chucked it in the dumpster. Acceptable?

Yes...but I usually just add it to my waste oil tank that I keep onboard for oil changes and rid it that way.

psneeld said:

Yes...but I usually just add it to my waste oil tank that I keep onboard for oil changes and rid it that way.

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Ditto. Most oil recycling centers have a place for the used filters as well.

So okay to mix with motor oil for disposal?

Yes, it's ok to mix. Most marinas have a disposal location for oil- and fuel-soaked absorbent pads, etc.

Unless you have so much crap in the fuel that this is not a good idea, just pour it back into the fuel tank. Then nothing to dispose of. A small amount of crud and/or water can be soaked up in a paper towel.

koliver said:

Unless you have so much crap in the fuel that this is not a good idea, just pour it back into the fuel tank. Then nothing to dispose of. A small amount of crud and/or water can be soaked up in a paper towel.

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this

mike66 said:

So okay to mix with motor oil for disposal?

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YES. My son uses waste oil to heat his auto repair shop and diesel is fine, so is brake fluid, tranny fluid, etc.

koliver said:

Unless you have so much crap in the fuel that this is not a good idea, just pour it back into the fuel tank. Then nothing to dispose of. A small amount of crud and/or water can be soaked up in a paper towel.

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Yup, this.

I keep a one gallon container in the engine room specially to hold small amounts of waste diesel. Let is stand for a day or so and tip the clean stuff back into the tank. A paper towel collects the dross and goes in the skip. The same container (when clean) is used to fill the Racors and hold overflow at filter-change time. I have a spigot at the low-point of my fuel system so I can draw small amounts of diesel when required.

Add a little milk and call it a Kahlua.

Hardcore! We know where your focus is. Imagine at 2.50 a gallon (and not for milk!).

The bottom of the bowl is where the worst crap settles; you go through all this effort to filter it out it makes no sense to put it back in!

Off-road diesel is essentially home heating oil.

I had the big Racor 1000 filters and never had to drain more than about a half pint to change them so the hassle of trying to effectively "recycle" that dirty fuel and use it again wasn't worth it to me.

Not recycling in my case, more a matter of how to dispose of the waste.