Water Restrictions and Car Washes
Following in the advances of Drought conditions are plagueing many areas of the US today. The demand for water continues to rise as the supply is diminishing. It is important for us to take whatever steps we can to help conserve water. Just how bad is the problem in the US? At least 36 states are expected to face water shortages within the next five years, according to U.S. government estimates. Available freshwater supplies are dwindling across the country due to rising temperatures and droughts, while increasing sprawl, population and inefficient resource usage are leading to rising demand. California uses about 23 trillion gallons of fresh water per year. The United States as a whole uses more than 148 trillion gallons for all purposes, including agriculture, manufacturing and other uses. Other threatened regions include the Midwest, where the Great Lakes are shrinking, and upstate New York, where reservoir levels have fallen to record lows. Georgia's crisis has already arrived, and Florida's is expected to hit soon.
While Florida has no shortage of rainfall, widespread draining and paving of the region's natural wetlands has left the water unable to drain back into the soil. As a consequence, the state is forced to flush millions of gallons of water into the ocean per year to avert floods. The reality is that Lifestyles have to be adjusted to compensate for the lack of water. With the water crisis that looms, you can see why we must do everything we can to conserve water. The water used for washing our vehicles may seem insignificant but multiply that by the many who wash their cars each day, and you can see the impact that waterless car wash could have.
Just like the advances in Solar and Wind Energy to help save the Enviroment saving water is, of course, an essential measure in helping to relieve the conditions of drought but how much impact can just washing my car have, you may ask? Well consider that the average person washing a car in the driveway uses between 80 to 140 gallons of water! While this doesn't seem like a lot of water, remember you are not the only one in town washing your car on a given day.OK, you say, I'll do my part to conserve. I'll take my car to the local car wash as they use recycled water so I won't be using nearly as much water. It is true that most automated car washes are required to recycle their water. The average car wash will use about 45 gallons of water. So you have reduced your usage considerably. But if the filtration system is not properly maintained, you may be washing your car with the water that was used for the last several dozen cars. It's like being the 10th person in the bath tub with the same bath water. Yuck!
There are also environmental concerns associated with car washing that few ever stop to think about. Have you ever wondered what happens to all the "stuff" you wash off your car? Where does it go? It will eventually work its way along the curb to the storm drain.Water passing into storm drains is not processed through a waste water treatment facility. The water discharges directly into waterways where it can contaminate aquatic life and even have an impact on drinking water in some locations.Auto detailers have felt the impact of the threat of contamination in some locations. For example, in San Diego , detailers are required to contain the water runoff created from washing vehicles. This water must then be disposed of in an appropriate manner to prevent it from getting into storm drains. With San Diego being so close to the ocean, water runoff has a direct path to water contamination. The result is increased costs to the detailer, which is passed on to the customer of course.So what is this contamination? Just thnk of what can be washed off the surface of your car. There is going to be oil and grease from the car itself as well as what is kicked up from the roadway. There can also be fuel if your tank overflowed when filling. You have exhaust residue. Then there are the other contaminates in the air that settle on the vehicle finish.The standard recommendation that is made for preventing this contamination of waterways is to wash the vehicle on the grass rather than in the driveway. This way the contaminants will be absorbed into the ground instead of going into the storm drain.
So now what have we done? That's right! We have simply traded contaminated water for contaminated soil. Again the obvious solution for eliminating water runoff and associated impacts is to clean your vehicle without using water. Another problem solved by the use of waterless cleaning products. and by doing so you've done your part to help the water crisis.
DWG Complete Waterless Car wash Detailing Kit
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