Clean Water Services fleet ‘walks’ its talk

Hillsboro, OR — February 13, 2007 — On January 17, 2007 Clean Water Services converted all of its 74 diesel powered vehicles and equipment to B-5 Biodiesel in a pilot effort to reduce harmful emissions. The B-5 mixture contains 5% Biodiesel and 95% conventional diesel. The 74 diesel vehicles are part of the District’s 128 vehicle fleet that performs valuable wastewater and stormwater services such as street sweeping, erosion and source control investigations, and maintenance of storm sewers and pipelines.

The Biodiesel is a mixture of vegetable oil and animal fat blended by SeQuential Biofuels of Portland and Eugene, Oregon. Biodiesel is a cleaner burning diesel fuel made from vegetable oil. Simply stated, it is a vegetable oil molecule with the glycerol component removed. Glycerol is a compound commonly used to make soap. Like conventional diesel, Biodiesel contains hydrogen and carbon molecules. It also contains oxygen molecules which create a cleaner, more complete burn of the fuel.
Cost-savings are immediately evident since Biodiesel is currently an average of two cents cheaper per gallon than regular gas and conventional diesel. The District purchases an average of 120,000 gallons of diesel per year.

To improve fueling efficiencies, on-site Biodiesel fueling provided by Bretthauer Oil Company is available after-hours at the Clean Water Services Field Operations Facility. On-site fueling keeps vehicles in continual service and avoids lost work time from having employees manually refuel.

Although greater emission reduction occurs at higher concentrations of Biodiesel, the District is using B-5 as part of its testing phase. The District will evaluate its Biodiesel program after six months in order to monitor performance, fuel mileage and engine oil samples. At that time, converting to a higher blend such as B-20 (20% Biodiesel and 80% conventional diesel) will be considered.

“We’re doing the right thing,” commented Dane Smith, Fleet Coordinator. “We’re moving ahead, but with caution in order to keep our fleet dependable and running efficiently for our ratepayers every day.”
In addition to the Biodiesel conversion, the District purchased three Ford Escape gas electric hybrids which have exhibited almost a 50 percent increase in fuel and emissions savings over the midsize vehicles they replaced. Last month, the District converted a new Chevrolet Colorado pickup to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). CNG is made by compressing methane extracted from natural gas. To increase energy savings, batteries and power inverters were installed to run new TV inspection and construction equipment in place of gas and diesel powered generators.

Clean Water Services is water resource management utility for nearly 500,000 people in urban Washington County and small portions of Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Lake Oswego, and Portland. Clean Water Services operates four wastewater treatment facilities, constructs and maintains flood management and water quality projects, and manages flow in the Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat. Although Clean Water Services maintains a close working relationship with Washington County government, it is a separately managed and financed public utility.

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