Car Wash Fundraisers and Waste Water Restrictions in California

Many cities are disallowing car wash fundraisers unless the non-profit group can guarantee that no dirty car wash soapy water will go into the storm drain. No matter how you feel about the government’s philosophy on car wash fundraisers, we suggest that you follow some of the following Best Management Practices (BMP’s) especially if your city or county regulates such discharges. They might not and a little soap is actually good for the environment. I suggest you use a coconut-based soap or citrus-based soap. You might even try Liquid Organic Cleaner (L.O.C.) from Amway. It doesn’t form a lot of suds but it works great and won’t hurt the environment or the fish if a little run off (car wash waste water effluent) finds its way into a storm drain. If you are in a city or county that regulates discharges from car wash fundraisers, such as Los Angeles or San Francisco, you are going to have to follow the rules.

We suggest that you use the following methods to contain your waste wash water and prevent the effluent from entering near by storm drains or waterways. We call these methods "Best Management Practices" or "BMP’s". Your goal should be not to let any water containing soap to enter any storm drain. With this goal in mind, you should proceed and have a great fundraiser and earn those much needed monies that your organization deserves.

BMP #1: Block off the storm drain. Try to wash the cars at the highest point, hopefully a flat surface area. At the end of the day after most of the water has evaporated, pump the remaining the water into a sanitary sewer drain. If you are at a gas station, they might have a dump for R.V. toilets. A clarifier is also good. Maybe a restroom toilet. On a sunny day most of the water will evaporate. If no one in your group owns a water pump ask the local wastewater authorities if you may borrow a pump for your event. Or vacuum up the water with a shop vacuum.

BMP #2: Select a site where the cars can be driven onto grass or gravel before washing. This way soapy water can filter through vegetation and soil before entering ground water or running off into the drainage ditch or storm drain.

BMP #3: Have a great car wash but don’t use any soap.

BMP #4: Block off the storm drains and pump left over wastewater onto the grass or into the planters thereby water the landscaping. Let most of the water evaporate before pumping so you don’t overflow the planters.

BMP #5: Pick a location where water runs off into a field or landscape directly after the pavement ends.

SO WHAT’S IN THE WATER THAT MAKES IT SO BAD ANYWAYS?

Well, first of all, we have chlorine in our tap water. There is also magnesium and calcium. And that’s before you even wash one car. If you spray the hose in the air that’s what’s in the water before it hits the ground. Due to the calcium and magnesium in the water in California, especially Southern California, it is necessary to soften our water. The chlorine and fluoride that we add to our water doesn’t help any either. Hard water spots are a major problem. Just park your car next to your sprinklers at home and you will see exactly what we are talking about. If your car is a dark color and you park it in the sun, the hard water spots will etch themselves into your clear coat and cause permanent damage to your paint job. The chemicals bake into the paint.

The desert cities such as Lancaster, Palm Springs, etc. have a major problem with this. You see, when it’s 115° F in the shade, the cars dry in three minutes. Luckily, multiple dryers can dry a car in two minutes. A crew of two can stay on top of it by drying most cars in one to one and one-half minutes. The main problem is soaping. The soap dries before you can rinse it off and the water evaporates out of the soap bucket every fifth car. The sprayer has to follow the soaper around the car, which is good because, by the time they are done, they’re hot. They can take turns spraying each other off.

If you have ever taken any chemistry classes, you know that just about everything is water soluble eventually. Water can combine with almost anything and make some pretty weird compounds, none of which are particularly good for the environment.

The hardness is water is caused by calcium and magnesium ions that form insoluble compounds. Also you can find iron and even traces of aluminum in our water. Our water is some of the clearest and cleanest in the world. It comes from the DWP (Department of Water and Power) and the MWD (Metropolitan Water District). Actually it doesn’t really come from there. It starts out as rain, drains to lakes and rivers and is brought to the people by canals, pipes and pumping stations.

So that is exactly what’s in the water before the wash. Now here is what may be in the water after the car wash. 6-22 mg/l of oil and grease. Usually this doesn’t come off the car. This is what is on the ground already that the water washes away. Yuk! How would you like to drink that in your bottled water. There are also suspended solids (TSS) with concentrations of 35-151 mg/l. Most of that is dirt, yet we can never know where each car has been and what’s in that dirt (i.e. bird droppings). There will also be foaming agents (soap) with concentrations of 0.3-1.41 mg/l which is very low. Yet I wouldn’t want to drink it or use it to make ice cubes. There probably isn’t but there could also be toluene, ethylbenzene and benzene. These are wicked ingredients that you definitely don’t want floating around in your puppy’s water bowl or your wife’s cappuccino. All other run off from car washes meets the drinking water standards and is certainly not going to adversely affect wild life or kill any ocean going fish.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board is not the only governing body concerned with water discharges. The Coastal Commission is also very concerned as well as the Department of Fish and Game. Both agencies have authority to issue civil penalties for water pollution.

For more information on water quality you can contact:

California Department of Fish and Game
Marine Resources Division
330 Golden Shore, Suite 50
Long Beach, CA 90802
FAX (310) 590-5193

Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board
101 Centre Plaza Drive
Monterey Park, CA 91754
Phone (213) 266-7500

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; www.WorldThinkTank.net/

Mobile Car Wash Waste Water Run Off

If you are going to run a mobile car wash you will need to make sure that you do not allow water to enter a storm drain, as that is illegal and those drains are meant for actually rain water.

Blocking storm drains is easy and then allow the water to evaporate a little and take what is left in the waste tank. Next you will want to make pre-arrangements to get rid of the water for instance contact the city or make a deal with a Coin Op car wash to dump the carwash waste water there which will go into their system properly.

Or you can divert the water if possible into vegetation and that should comply with the NPDES permitting, but be sure to run this by the local water quality control board or city.

One of the easiest ways to collect the wastewater is to dam up the flow towards the storm drain or block the storm drain completely. You can buy a vacuum, which both sucks and pumps the water from a Wal-Mart for about $79.00 and attach a garden hose to it to suck up any collected wastewater. Then you can put it into a small storage tank on your pick-up or trailer unit to remove it from the property.

There are other solutions also, which may include using a mat to wash on and there are a few companies, which sell these; “Car Wash Mats” or “Auto Detailing Mats” that you can purchase. I hope you will protect our Nation’s water supply and consider all this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World; www.WorldThinkTank.net/

Safety And Health Aspects - Waste Water

Generally, all waste-water treatment works, irrespective of their size, have to comply with strict governmental safety and regulations acts. It is the responsibility of the owner or local authority to be fully acquainted with all aspects of the safety guidelines for waste-water treatment operations. The potential danger of an explosion of biogas and air mixtures cannot be over- emphasised, therefore units such as the waste gas burner should preferably be situated at least 15 m away from the gas holder, digester(s) or any buildings, together with due consideration to the prevailing wind.

The health hazards associated with the treatment of waste-water and specifically sludge handling should not be under-estimated. It is the responsibility of the supervisor and the operating staff to acquaint themselves of the dangers and to take the necessary steps to avoid them.

A wide variety of disease-causing organisms are present in both the liquid phase and the sludge stage. Amongst these are salmonella, shigella and vibro that cause diarrhoea and other intestinal tract problems. Viruses are also usually present in waste-water sludges. Amongst these are viruses causing infectious hepatitis, poliomyelitis, sore throats, gastroenteritis and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can cause AIDS. Protozoa such as entamoeba and giardia that cause intestinal distress are also common in waste-water treatment works. Helminths, such as ascaris (roundworm), taenia (tapeworm) and trichuris (whipworm) are also part of the bio-breakdown process but the ova of these can pass through the body and are fairly resistant to normal treatment processes including anaerobic digestion. Very high counts are usually found in sludge. The ova can survive in sol for several years.

Basic health hygiene rules apply when working in waste-water treatment plants; always wash up properly after working or handling any part of the waste-water treatment system or products. Try to avoid touching your face without washing your hands. Refrain from smoking whilst on the works, it is very easy to ingest disease-causing organisms. Protective clothing is an absolutely essential while working in a waste-water treatment plant especially while working with liquid sludges. Most of the guidelines associated with waste-water treatment are common sense. If one is not sure, every plant should have a code of health and hygiene that can be checked upon to see every health aspect associated with the waste plant.

All waste-water treatment works are classified as factories and must have first aid kit available in-case of accidents. The location of these first aid kits should be prominently displayed as well as the name of the first aid officer assigned to a specific section. It is recommended that all senior operating staff must have completed a basic first aid course. All open wounds should be treated by a doctor and it is important to receive a tetanus injection occasionally due to the types of bacteria workers are exposed to. As a general rule no scratch or cut is too minor to receive proper treatment.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Waste Treatments

The Scoop on Water Waste

Most people make little thought to water waste from sprinkler leaks, pipe leaks and other leakage in and around their homes. However, it is a water conservation and environmental issue.

Waste water can have chemicals and other debris mixed in with it and thus can be harmful to the environment. For example, water waste from commodes. If this ran off into lawns and sewers, it could travel directly to water sources like nearby ponds and contaminate them, harming fish, ducks and other wildlife and as well as plant life.

In a similar manner, waste water passing through yards sprayed with chemicals or falling off of roofs that may have harsh chemicals on the shingles or other roofing materials may also house contaminants. And these can be passed along to sewers, ponds, wildlife, plant life and more, too.

Helpful Solutions

Main ways to help work towards improving water waste scenarios include preventative solutions, maintenance and repair work. Practice water conservation, too, so that there is plenty of good water around for all animals, plants and mankind. Here are some helpful tips:

Water your lawn only when it needs it. Step on your grass. If it springs back, when you lift your foot, it doesn't need water. So set your sprinklers for more days in between watering. Saves 750-1,500 gallons per month. Better yet, especially in times of drought, water with a hose.

1. Repair any leaky plumbing fixtures, joints and faucets and plumbing joints as soon as you detect them and check regularly to make sure you have no more leaks.

3. When using your outdoor hose, use it sparingly. For example, if you are washing your siding, turn off the water while you scrub any tough areas with a soft soap, instead of leaving the water run off in the yard the entire time.

4. Stop taking full force showers every day. Use a lighter spraying head and take shorter showers.

5. You can and should wash some dishes by hand and stop using the dishwasher all the time. If it’s full, fine. If not, run a half sink or less of water, wash the few dishes, and call it quits.

6. Install commodes with conservation flushing modes that don’t use as much water per flush. Check with hardware / plumbing stores for these.

7. Stop watering your driveway along with your lawn. Adjust the spraying mechanism. And use a broom to sweep your drive.

John Mayer owns FloodCheck USA which can help you prevent water waste. You can see a full line of Water Leak Detection Devices at Floodcheckusa.com