The Environmental Problem

2. Fire Extinguisher Discharge

It is a standard industry requirement for fire fighting foam to be discharged from fire extinguishers every five years, for testing purposes. This is how the majority of extinguishers are emptied, as opposed to actually fighting fires.
This discharge accounts for over 3 million litres of fire fighting foam every year.

Most of these extinguishers are discharged by fire service engineers onto the ground or into the surface water drains at customers’ premises, typically on the car park area. Either way, the foam reaches and contaminates the water system if there is no containment.

Other Testing Discharge
Fixed and mobile systems are also discharged for testing or training purposes at:-

• Fire brigade training centres
• Extinguisher training at client sites.
• Airports
• Chemical plants
• Power stations
• Ports, harbours and ships – often discharged direct to river or sea.

Irrespective of the reason for, or the nature of the discharge, it should be undertaken in an environmentally responsible manner, and in compliance with legal requirements. Containment is the first and most important action. Discharge to the environment for non-emergency purposes is not permitted:

To see how Foamclean can facilitate this process – see The Solution.