The Myth That Fixed Site Carwashes Save More Water Than Mobile Car Washes

Most people realize that if they take their car to a fixed site car wash, that these types of businesses reclaim all of their wash water, and recycle it, so they use less water than one would if they washed their own car in their own drive-way. If this is what you believe and this is your line of thinking, you would be correct. Now then, you might also believe that someone that does mobile car washing with a pressure washer and a water tank at your office uses more water than a fixed site car wash which recycles.

However, that is not the case, it's a myth, and I'd like to clear up this misconception once and for all. Fixed site carwashes probably use about 25 to 36 gallons of water per car, and whereas they do recycle two thirds, they use one-third freshwater on each car. A mobile car wash which washes cars using a pressure washer at 1500 to 2200 PSI might use a 5 hp pressure washer putting out only 2.2 gallons per minute, and if their total spray-time is 1 to 2 minutes then they will have only used between 2.2 and 4.4 gallons.

That's well under half the water the most efficient fixed site car wash in the world use. Therefore, if your city is in a drought situation a mobile car wash will be able to save water for the local community, even better than a fixed site carwash can. Of course a mobile car wash probably can't wash every car in the city, and the fixed site carwashes obviously use a lot less water than you would if you washed your car at home and used between 75 to 150 gallons of water, even if you were very careful and used a shutoff nozzle on the end of your garden hose.

Now then, there is one more option and that is to use a "waterless carwash solution" to clean your car which supposedly doesn't use any water at all. That's a neat trick isn't it? Sure it is, however if they washed those dirty rags at home in a washing machine, they have to add the amount of water used in the washing machine to wash all the dirty rags divided by the number of cars they'd cleaned with those rags.

So, they also use water, albeit a lot less than a fixed site car wash as well. Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this and think on it as you figure out more ways to conserve water while still being able to live your life.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, http://www.carwashguy.com/ and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 24,222 articles by July 22, 2011 at 2:22 PM is going to be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..

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Mobile Car Washing and Detailing in the Age of Scarce Water Supplies

Before retirement, I franchised a company which set up mobile carwashes across the country. In some areas our business did quite well because of water shortages, especially when they closed down the local carwashes due to their water use. Our units used quite a bit less water, and were as efficient as 4 to 5 gallons per car. That surely beats washing your car in your driveway using 100 gallons of water, or even the most efficient recycling carwashes using 8 to 12 gallons of fresh water per car.

Now then, often the municipalities that shut down the carwashes would get complaints from the carwash owners that we were still operating. We would try to educate the local code enforcement, and City Hall that we use quite a bit less water, so we were even more efficient. But in times of level III drought, it wasn't just that, it was also the spirit of the rules, and the cities felt if we were still washing cars, it was giving the wrong idea to citizens that it was okay to wastewater. Now that's a Catch-22 isn't it?

In other words even though we were not wasting water, and that we were the most efficient car wash method, we were still barred from doing business due to perception. And therefore we had to stop. It seems to me this is quite unfair, and yet we had another competitor in the marketplace; waterless car wash companies. They wash cars without using any water, rather they used a solution that one could smear on the car, and then wipe off along with the dirt and dust.

They immediately said that they were the solution, and that we were inefficient because they used no water, and we used 5 gallons. Even though we were more efficient than the carwashes, and even quite a bit more efficient than anyone washing their own car in their own driveway, even with a shutoff nozzle. It just goes to show you that there is a lot of competition in the marketplace for who is the most water efficient car wash. And during level III droughts everyone's water is restricted. It doesn't matter if you are a homeowner, farmer, industrial user, or a carwash, regardless of what type.

Indeed, I expect such conflicts within the mobile car washing community to continue. And there will always be a battle between waterless carwashes and mobile carwashes and mobile detailing companies that use pressure washers to clean the cars - just as there will always be bitter animosity between mobile carwash owners and fixed site carwashes, especially in the age of scarce water supplies. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 24,000 articles by July 24, 2011 is going to be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..

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