Oily water can be a serious issue on industrial sites. It clogs pumps, fouls filters, and forces tanks to be drained more often. This leads to staff spending hours on clean-ups instead of production, and managers seeing disposal bills rise as compliance targets become increasingly difficult to meet. Left untreated, the oil-water mix builds up across equipment and production lines, cutting into efficiency and pushing sites further away from sustainability goals. The solution is straightforward separation: removing oil and solids before they spread through the system and disrupt wider operations.

Smarter Skimming at the Surface

Skimmers often struggled when liquid levels changed, leaving oil behind or requiring frequent adjustments. Innovative surface skimmers work continuously across sumps, wash bays, and tanks to lift oil from the surface, even as levels fluctuate throughout the day. Modern designs can now separate liquids at rates of up to 10 L per minute and transfer the liquid into a container without interrupting operations. Such advancements keep bays usable, reduce odour, and save staff hours of manual clean-ups.

Centrifuges that Run Cleaner

Traditional oil-water separation often meant stopping machines to scrape out sludge. Modern centrifuges are built to run continuously with minimal intervention, which means less downtime and smoother shifts. Higher g-forces now remove fine solids and oil that would normally slip through. With automated cleaning cycles, tanks stay clearer, water flows steadier, and crews are not constantly pulled away for maintenance. In larger plants, this also improves production, as managers can be confident oil and solids won’t suddenly grind operations to a halt – especially not with fully automated units like the IC45-AV.

Filters that Waste Less

Gone are the days when flatbed vacuum filters consumed media quickly and created large volumes of sludge. Interfil’s systems only index the roll when pressure builds to reduce waste and extend service intervals. This small modification helps managers lower disposal costs and maintain consistent pressure across shifts, especially in busy facilities where flow is critical. The gain is efficiency: filters that step in only when needed to keep consumable use predictable and easier to budget for over the year.

The Price of ignoring oily water

If oil is left to mix, pumps shear it into smaller droplets, which cause filters to block faster, disposal loads to become heavier, and odour complaints to rise from bays or tanks. It also adds compliance risks. In Australia, businesses are expected to reduce pollution at the source. One example is EPA Victoria outlining how operators must control wastewater to meet environmental duty. Using innovative separation systems makes it easier to prove compliance and show predictable records at audit time.

Contact Interfil to upgrade your technology with innovative systems that address surface oil at the source.

Improvements You’ll See On Site

The technology doesn’t replace people, but it frees them to focus solely on production. When used in sequence, daily operations look different:

• Tanks need draining less often.
• Pumps hold pressure for longer runs.
• Waste loads are lighter and easier to move.
• Crews spend fewer hours on emergency clean-ups.

Moving towards Innovative Technology

The main goal is to strip oil out early, clear the mix quickly before it spreads, and keep filters for the final polish. Following this order leaves water cleaner, keeps operations running smoothly, and cuts waste costs across industries.

If you believe your site could use an upgrade with equipment that can handle these challenges, contact Interfil today. From skimmers and centrifuges to vacuum filters, we supply innovative systems from our base in Mortdale, NSW. All products can be adapted to fit existing layouts and keep your operations compliant, reliable, and sustainable.