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Douglas Latimer hopes for a cleaner future for marinas in Lake Simcoe and believes he can help stop the chemical solvent and fuel residues from boat washing from flowing into nearby waters.

“It represents an environmental concern when you multiply those cleaning solvents by the number of boats cruising during the season,” said Latimer, the owner of Latimat 2.0.

Latimer became familiar with wastewater containment in the 1990s when the City of Toronto called out car wash businesses for discharging cleaning effluents to drains and ditches.

The call inspired Latimer, who was in the truck-washing business at the time, to invent and patent a wash pad that would capture liquid wastes and effluents from vehicle-cleaning operations. These include pollutants such as brake dust, oil, grease, car detailing products, and detergents.

Latimer’s invention consists of a portable wash containment area made of tough chemical- and acid-resistant materials, with inflatable sidewalls.

“The pad traps runoff water and drives it over the end walls of the pad. Then this wash water can be pumped away to a mobile treatment and recycling unit.”

While carwash facilities are required to be designed with expensive water recycling and filtration systems to comply with regulations, not every company, says Latimer, can justify or accommodate this kind of installation for all vehicle types that they need to clean.

Over the years, the wash pad has been used in a wide range of applications, including truck, aircraft, truck railroad, car, boat, and even space rocket washing.

“In 2005, NASA contracted my system for a 22-day cleaning operation inside and out of the Saturn Rocket at Johnson Space Center in Houston,” Latimer said.

As for boats, Latimer says the wash pad is designed to capture effluents for proper disposal or recycling treatment for any size of boat that require washing.

“The sizes of the wash pads are larger than the size of the boat by three feet to each end side, in order to catch the overspray for proper disposal.”

With manufacturing sites in Dundalk, Ont. and Denver, Col., Latimer’s containment system is available for sale through power washing dealerships. Various configurations are available and can be quickly set up almost anywhere.

Typically, the wash pads are sold to mobile wash businesses, race venues, chemical suppliers, and fuel storage facilities. Latimer has shipped his patented device domestically and internationally, including to clients in the US, Australia, and Germany.

With a diesel spill spotted at Barrie's waterfront just a month ago, Latimer keeps an eye out for an opportunity to bring his invention to the region, where his product has yet to be sold. 

“I believe the reason why the lakeshore fuel leak occurred in Barrie, and may occur somewhere else in the Lake Simcoe region, is that there is no containment system in place there.”

Latimer moved to Innisfil in 2014, following a few of his six daughters to the area.

“This is such a better place to bring up our grandkids,” he said.

For more information about Latimat Containment Systems, click here.