Reclaimed Waste Water

Superior Shine

New member
I scooped up some water we reclaimed out of my reclaim tank to see what it looked like. I used an olive jar. This water is from three car washed on vehicles we do monthly. We spray a degreaser on the tires and wheel wells, wheel cleaner on the rims and soap to wash everything with. So this jar contains what we put on the vehicles to clean them and what ever came off the vehicles.

The first picture is of "freshly" scooped up water. The second is after what ever we reclaimed settled to the bottom. The water had a yellow tint to it. This is the stuff we gotta keep from going into the storm drains.



184reclaimed_water_2-med.jpg




184reclaimed_water_1-med.jpg
 
The funny thing though....whenever it rains, a whole lot more of that stuff gets washed down the storm drains anyway. I know you have to follow the law with respects to water reclaimation but I honestly don't feel that car washing is the main pollution culprit in storm drain waste. :nixweiss



Pretty nasty looking stuff though. ;)
 
scottabir said:
It is the law that you have to reclaim your water if using more than 2 gallons.





Is this for Detailers or for me in my driveway????? And what moron decided this????
 
Scottwax said:
The funny thing though....whenever it rains, a whole lot more of that stuff gets washed down the storm drains anyway. I know you have to follow the law with respects to water reclaimation but I honestly don't feel that car washing is the main pollution culprit in storm drain waste. :nixweiss

I have to agree, what with all the brake dust, tire dust, dripping oil, trans fluid, grease, power steering fluid, gasoline from 100% of the cars getting washed down the storm drains, it really seems overkill to reclaim the gunk from the 1% of the cars that are getting washed by mobile detailers.



Superior Shine--that Vacuboom looks the same or more expensive than the wash mats, I presume you use it because it is faster/easier?
 
Yes, it is a snap to use. I have used both.



The mats are heavy, get dirty, take up tons of room, smell if you havn't dryed them before putting them away. They tear easy.
 
I tend to agree with Scott on this controversial issue.



Between pesticides, the oil/grime and garbage waste that get's washed into our storm drains during rainfall, I highly doubt car washing has a significant impact on our waste water.



Toronto has instituted a 3-min car idleing rule to reduce smog. Like that is going to make any significant impact when you can see several huge smoke stakes just spewing waste like no tomorrow. Considering most of the cars on the road are less than 10 years old, it's hardly going to make a dent. Hell, one lawn mower running for 1/2 hr can pollute our air more than 10+ cars.



I personally believe we should be trying to help out the environment as best we can but much better areas to tackle then car washing at home!



Start with our garbage practices for one ...



Paco
 
These are whats called "Feel Good Laws" they do nothing but make the environmentalist's feel good and stop crying.
 
I drain the waste water into the sewer system. I had a line brought out from under my bathroomto where I park my van and dump it down that line.
 
OMG this is insanity! don't u trip over this thing constantly? I just cant believe we have let things come to this. can't anyone work anymore without 5000 regs jeezeee rant rant rant!!!
 
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