Car Washing the Environmental Way
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Courtesy of the Kingston Environmental Advisory Forum (KEAF).
What is the best way to wash my car without hurting the environment? The most important thing is to avoid putting harmful material into the storm sewers. If I wash my car in the driveway, the waste water probably contains soap, sand and grit, small amounts of oil, rubber and other chemicals picked up from the roads. All these materials go into the roadside grates and into the storm sewer system. The storm sewer system is there to prevent flooding by taking away water from heavy rainfall and melting snow. The storm sewer system is separate from the regular sewer system that takes waste water from sinks and toilets. Waste water in the regular system undergoes treatment to remove grit, oils and other chemicals and to destroy harmful bacteria before the water goes into the lake. But waste water in the storm sewer system goes into the lake without treatment.
When cars are washed in the driveway, the soap, the sand and grit, oil, and small particles of rubber and metals that have been picked up from the roads all go into the storm sewer system. The sand and grit may clog parts of the system and the soap and chemicals harm fish and other living things that depend upon the lake water. With thousands of cars being washed, the danger to the environment increases. The dangers are so great that in some countries, Germany for example, this kind of car washing is prohibited. So what is a better way?
Instead of washing the car in the driveway, I can drive it onto the lawn, use a minimal amount of soap, and wash the car from a bucket, rinsing with the garden hose. This way, the waste water is trapped by the lawn where it helps the grass grow. The grit and grime from one car are unlikely to harm the lawn. Another alternative is to take the car to a commercial car wash.
Automated car washes and coin operated car washes in the city are required to have settling tanks where sand and grit are removed. Then the water goes into the city sewer system, not the storm sewers, where it is treated to remove oils and minimize the effect of other chemicals before being released into the lake. Outside the city sewer system, car washes have to settle out the grit and filter the waste water before putting it into septic disposal systems.
