Pollution Control System for Aircraft Deicing Operations

Aircraft deicing operations generate spent glycol-water runoff that carries a high biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) load, making it a regulated discharge under the EPA's Airport Deicing Effluent Guidelines and subject to NPDES stormwater permitting. The Pollution Control System from Liquid Automation Systems is designed to intercept, collect, and manage this glycol-laden runoff from deicing pads and apron surfaces before it enters the stormwater drainage network. The core function is directed collection of deicing fluid that has been applied to aircraft and shed during pushback or taxiing — the fraction that would otherwise reach catch basins and, ultimately, waterways where glycol degradation depletes dissolved oxygen. EPA guidelines require large commercial airports to collect a defined percentage of applied ADF; uncollected glycol runoff can generate wastewater surcharges at hub airports that represent significant annual operating costs, independent of any regulatory penalty exposure. For procurement engineers, the system is evaluated against two concurrent obligations: regulatory compliance (collection percentage, reporting, discharge consent conditions) and cost recovery (reclaimed glycol that can be reconcentrated and re-used, or disposed of at lower BOD-penalty cost). The system integrates with LAS's broader fluid management infrastructure including the AvTrol inventory platform, providing a full-chain view from blending through dispensing to recovery. Deployments are most common at airports with dedicated centralized deicing pads where collection infrastructure can be built into the pad drainage design, though the system can address apron collection requirements where aircraft are deiced on remote stands.