I have been discussing with my family and neighbors car washing and the effects on the environment. Since we in San Diego will be starting with water increases and water rationing, washing the car at home is a very simple and easy thing to do to not only save water and the environment as well.
I Just Gotta Tell Ya
- It takes 116 Gallons of water to wash a car at home
- Commercial Car Washes use about 45 Gallons to wash a car
- When washing the car at home the water does not undergo waste treatment before being discharged into the environments- going directly into storm drains – then into rivers, streams and oceans.
- Federal laws require commercial car washes to drain waste water into sewer systems.
- Dirty Water contains soap, detergents, gasoline, heavy metals from rust, motor oils.
- Hand washes are extremely harmful to automobile finishes – Tests conducted by the University of Texas to compare surface disturbances showed that a single home hand wash on an automobile can produce scratches that penetrate as deep as 1/10 of the total thickness of the automobile’s paint
Car Wash Water Facts
- Full-service car washes use 15-32 gallons of water per cycle.
- Exterior-only carwashes use 15-28 gallons of water per cycle.
- In-bay automatic/rollover car washes use 24-45 gallons of water per cycle. Self-serve (coin op) car washes use 8-12 gallons of water per cycle.
- In 60 seconds, a typical five-eighths inch garden hose running at a typical household pressure of 50 psi (pressure per square inch) uses 14 gallons of water.
- Many carwashes recycle water or adjust spray nozzles to even further reduce overall water use.
If you have to wash at home
- Wash on the lawn or dirt or gravel
- Use Biodegradable soaps or Waterless Car Wash
- Put Dirty water down the toilet
- Use high pressure nozzle to reduce water usage
Biodegradable Soaps
- Green Earth Technologies 01212 Car Wash 16 oz
(Amazon Car Wash (about $6.88) -Not a soap, detergent or petroleum solvent, but a natural blend that’s safe to use in driveways without runoff concerns, Biodegradable
Waterless Car Washes
- From
Eco Touch Waterless Car Wash and Polish starting at $9.50 or Eco Touch Waterless Car Wash Starter Kit $39.450 – includes Car Wash, Polish, Microfiber and more
- From- Ultraluster Wash Inc.
-Ultralusterwash’s,”Waterless Wash Polish & Protective Glaze” offers ‘space age lubricants and polymers’ to protect your vehicles finish from scratching. It also leaves a bond of protection that beads water for months.
- Freedom Waterless Car Wash
when car washing, i just use a high pressure cleaner and my own hands to clean off those hardened dirt”.;
Scratching is a huge problem. We always use microfibre cloths, which we find rarely causes a problem
Hey there great post , Thanks for sharing this information
Hi there
I am doing a movie for the ‘Outlook for Someday’ and I was wondering if I could use your Wasting 116 Gallons of Water Picture for my movie? Thank you.
Josh