Spill Protection & Overfill Prevention

All underground storage tank systems are required to have both spill protection and overfill prevention, unless the UST never receives more than 25 gallons of product at a time. Some requirements have changed as part of the new 2015 EPA regulations. For confirmation on what requirements apply to your facility, contact your state regulator.

Spill Protection

Spill protection equipment is the containment around a fill pipe, designed to catch drips or small spills. Typically, we refer to these as spill buckets, spill basins, or catchment basin. Spill basins come in a variety of sizes to accommodate fuel deliveries of all sizes. In most cases, a delivery hose will hold around 14 gallons of product.

Overfill Prevention

Overfill prevention devices can include automatic shutoff devices, overfill alarms, and flow restrictors/ball float valves. They are designed to activate if the product in your UST reaches a certain level inside the tank. In some cases, a facility may have more than one overfill device installed.

 Spill protection and overfill prevention equipment are only effective if the operator and delivery person are adhering to correct filling practices.  In addition, operators should be keeping copies of all monitoring records and tests performed on the equipment.