Using a commercial car wash uses less water and prevents toxic runoff produced when washing your car at home in your driveway. An Earth Talk article on ThoughtCo.com points out that all the gasoline and oil that you wash off your car ends up in streams and rivers where ecosystems are impacted by the influx of these toxins. Commercial car wash facilities, on the other hand, send their wastewater to water treatment centers before being released back into water systems. In addition, "commercial car washes use computer controlled systems and high-pressure nozzles and pumps that minimize water usage. Many also recycle and re-use the rinse water."* Therefore, the total amount of water used is much lower per car than washing at home.
They also make suggestions for how to wash your car at home but reduce the toxic runoff. They suggest that "you can make your own biodegradable car wash by mixing one cup of liquid dishwashing detergent and 3/4 cup of powdered laundry detergent (each should be chlorine- and phosphate-free and non-petroleum-based) with three gallons of water. This concentrate can then be used sparingly with water over exterior car surfaces."* However, even with this formula, they state that it is best "to avoid the driveway and instead wash your car on your lawn or over dirt so that the toxic wastewater can be absorbed and neutralized in soil instead of flowing directly into storm drains or open water bodies."*
*Talk, Earth. "A Guide to Eco-Friendly Car Washing." ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/eco-friendly-car-washing-1203931
Photo by Michael, Flickr Commons
They also make suggestions for how to wash your car at home but reduce the toxic runoff. They suggest that "you can make your own biodegradable car wash by mixing one cup of liquid dishwashing detergent and 3/4 cup of powdered laundry detergent (each should be chlorine- and phosphate-free and non-petroleum-based) with three gallons of water. This concentrate can then be used sparingly with water over exterior car surfaces."* However, even with this formula, they state that it is best "to avoid the driveway and instead wash your car on your lawn or over dirt so that the toxic wastewater can be absorbed and neutralized in soil instead of flowing directly into storm drains or open water bodies."*
*Talk, Earth. "A Guide to Eco-Friendly Car Washing." ThoughtCo, Feb. 11, 2020, thoughtco.com/eco-friendly-car-washing-1203931
Photo by Michael, Flickr Commons
RSS Feed