Limits and regulations of car-washes – heavy metals, oils and so on

Many carwashes recycle and reuse their water, yet after a while it gets too murky to use. 
Sooner or later it is sent down the drain on its way to the city sewer system, only now it is more concentrated with chemicals, detergents, dirt and heavy metals. Read more about this issue in this article by Lance Winslow.

What about Sweden then

In Sweden it came to a recommendation in 1996 as set out benchmarks for what the water that came from a car wash had to contain, or rather not contain.
There were also was limits of how much fresh water that was allowed to be used for washing a car.
That meant in practice that all new car-washes installed some form of water treatment orwater recycling system.

A few years ago,  the national targets  were  abolished and it came to an industry fact sheet instead.
Local regulations have since gone in different directions and it means that there are different limits for car-washes in differens cities and parts of Sweden.

Some municipalities cooperate and develop common rules for what to apply for car-washes.
Recently, the Västa Götaland, updated policy relating to vehicle wash.
It is available since October to read here.

Stricter requirements on emissions from past and demands for small car wash facilities from 2015.
This is the facilities that washes fewer than 5 cars per day and are not open to the public.
it should mean in practice that all the washing areas and spolplattor will be covered in the rules.

The requirements are also criteria for the car wash chemicals that may be used. As in so many other recommendations in Sweden for professional car wash as it applies to cleaning chemicals meet any environmental labels. Either the Nordic Swan or Kemikaliesvepet.

What about other countries

Of course, there are different requirements for car-washes between the different countries.
It is important to know that the conditions is different from country to country.  And some times inside one country as well
Examples of parameters that differ are:

- Type of dirt to be washed away from cars
- Availability of water
- Expansion of the sewerage and municipal sewage treatment plants 
- Culture of how to wash his car (Do it yourself, Tunnelwashes, frictionfree etc)
- Different kind of chemicals used
- National rules which affect the substances which are permitted in the washing chemicals

 If you want to read more about this topic here are some helful links to start out with:

http://www.epa.state.il.us/small-business/car-wash/
http://www.greenstampplus.com.au/downloads/GPG/VIC/GPG%203%20-%20Washing%20Vehicles.pdf
http://www.carwash.com/article.asp?IndexID=6636797
http://www.fundsraiser.com/dec00/how-to-run-a-successful-car-wash-fundraiser-environmental-concerns.html
http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/local.ssf?/base/news/122994091041630.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

Carwash Romania

 

This visit to a prospering Romania  was a view in a new world. A country with zero unemployment and a people whom are willing to explore new business ideas.

 

I hired a car and drove through Bucharest and I was surprised to all nice fellow drivers in the traffic. No sour faces over a bit lost Swede on the Romania roads, navigators are overestimated, on the contrary most willing to help me. That was the first impression I got and that impression hold on for the rest on the trip.

 

Now to the car wash business!

 

Manual wash is 90% of the market and most of them are located in 3-5 car wash bays. They use an alkaline pre wash and rinse with high-pressure. Some times they use a hand shampoo but the result on the first step should be good enough.

 

Traffic film removers are hard to get. Touch less cleaning is one of the toughest cleaning you can do if you want a good result. I use to say make a cross on the dirty car and then wash it with a touch less cleaner. If you don’t can see the cross you made it, if you can see the cross your touch less cleaner is no good!

 

So far, soon 20 years in the business, I have not seen any chemical that have done this in winter time.

 

Lahega suggest a good alkaline degrease, Autosafe 648, high-pressure with water then wash the car with a sponge and a mild shampoo like Carsoft Velvet. You will have a good result with no residues of traffic film.