We live in the world of EU standards and directives. One of them is a standard regulating the storage and keeping of diesel fuel in tanks.
Unfortunately, not all users have taken the new regulations to heart if only because of the prosaic reason that no one controls them. Will the new enforcement measure in the form of controlling fuel distribution force Poles to better protect the environment?
Mauser tank
This and similar types of tanks are used to store oil by most farmers who are unaware that polyethylene may start leaking the substance which will eventually pollute the soil. This is why the Act on Liquid Fuel Storage requires tanks which are unpressurised, double-skinned, above-ground and intended for the storage of liquid flammable materials including diesel oil (Official Journal No. 113 item 1211). The legislators assume that observing these conditions during the production and purchase of tanks will protect the environment from potential accidents.
Double-skinned Fortis Tank
For some reason, Polish farmers do not want to invest in tanks which will ensure safe storage and use of diesel oil. I do not quite believe that the new legislation on fuel dispensing supervision will change this attitude if farmers themselves are not controlled.
The new act in a nutshell. A fuel wholesaler is required to supply fuel to authorised and certified tanks. What if the customer has ordered oil but does not have such a tank? Should the wholesaler return with the fuel without selling it? Who should keep records of where the fuel is dispensed? The fuel wholesaler? Should the farmer make a statement that the fuel was supplied to an authorised tank? What if it is dispensed to all the machines owned by the farmer? After all, machine tanks are authorised by machine producers. There are many questions which are yet left unanswered. One thing is sure – farmers ask many more questions about tanks than they did before. They still do not buy new tanks, however, because there are not told clearly that they will pay a fine for keeping a tank of the old type.
As a producer of double-skinned tanks, Fortis Technology has spent years raising awareness about the benefits of having certified and safe tanks. We do not try to scare our customers as has been the recent practice on the market. So far, we have kept stressing the need to protect the environment like a broken record.
In conclusion, purchasing a certified tank is an investment of several thousand zlotys which pays off in a matter of a few or a dozen months if only because of the savings made by buying fuel at wholesale prices. The purchase should be motivated mainly by the peace of mind and environmental protection as we would not like our children and grandchildren to pay the terrible price of destroying our mother Earth.
