| As everyone knows, washing your car on a regular | | | | aggressive chemical, followed by a friction cleaning |
| basis will keep your car looking newer longer. | | | | process, a powerful blast of water, or a combination |
| Numerous environmental and weather driven factors | | | | of both. Commercial car wash facilities are required to |
| affect the cleanliness of your vehicle and the | | | | install appropriate drainage to the city sewer or a |
| frequency with which it must be washed. For | | | | septic system, ensuring that these aggressive |
| instance, road salt in the winter, dust in the summer, | | | | chemicals do not run off into the storm sewers, |
| pollen in the spring and leaves in the fall all not only | | | | keeping them out of our lakes and streams. |
| dirty your car, but they act both as abrasive particles | | | | Commercial car wash facilities typically use anywhere |
| and as corrosives that attach themselves to the | | | | from 30-80 gallons of fresh water per car, depending |
| paint, penetrating and damaging the finish. Keeping | | | | on a number of factors…most notably water |
| your car clean will not only make it look nicer and | | | | reclamation. |
| newer, but it will also protect it from real damage | | | | In addition, many commercial car washes recycle and |
| that can be done over time. | | | | re-use their water with an on-site waste water |
| There are really just two options for washing a car, | | | | treatment system (technically called a water |
| either it do it at home by hand, or take it to a | | | | reclamation system, or reclaim system for short.) |
| commercial car wash facility…whether it be | | | | Reclaim systems allow the car wash operator to |
| self-serve or automatic. Many people think the way | | | | save their water, treat it, and re-use it for more than |
| to give their car the best wash possible is in the | | | | one customer. This saves them lots of money on |
| driveway, at home. While giving your car a little TLC | | | | their water and sewer bills, and protects our water |
| in the driveway may be a relaxing weekend activity, | | | | resources. |
| driveway washing is actually quite harmful to the | | | | For the environmentally conscious consumer, these |
| environment. The runoff from your wash activities | | | | are the factors that you should take into |
| carries a tremendous amount of phosphorous from | | | | consideration when you need to wash your car. You |
| your soap, petrochemicals from the road film | | | | should avoid driveway washing at all costs, and if you |
| you’re washing off, and numerous other | | | | must, it is far better to wash on the grass than in an |
| chemicals that are toxic to fish, and your runoff is | | | | area where your runoff will end up down the storm |
| draining into the storm sewer…meaning it ends up in | | | | drain. The better option is to use a commercial car |
| the lakes and rivers. It is also important to note that | | | | wash facility…preferably one that reclaims their |
| washing your car in the driveway uses upwards of | | | | water. This also serves to reward the car wash |
| 100 gallons of fresh water. | | | | operator who puts in the extra time, money and |
| Automatic car wash systems normally involve | | | | effort to purchase and operate water reclamation |
| spraying and coating the car with some sort of | | | | equipment. |