This past weekend my parents came to town to catch up over lunch. As I walked out the door to head to the restaurant, I noticed that my Toyota Corolla which is supposed to be forest green had taken on a yellowish hue from the seemingly endless amount of pollen and tree sap it had accumulated. Outside of trips to grab groceries and other essentials, Coronovirus, has left my car parked under the trees in our front yard for the past 4 months. Wanting my parents to feel secure in my “having everything together” and in a hurry I decided to swing by the car wash on the way. As I was sitting in the car wash with the water rinsing the vibrant foam off my windshield, I started to question the sustainability of the car wash vs. washing your car at home. I mean car washes seem to use a heck of a lot of water, right? I decided that I should do a little research so that I could make a more informed decision the next time my car’s exterior needed a little TLC.
My research showed that there are 3 main factors to be considered when trying to clean a car in the most environmentally friendly way: the amount of water spent, the type of soap used, and the method of disposal of contaminated water.
Water Spent
The 2018 Car Wash Water Use Study by the International Carwash Association found that the average gallons of fresh water used per vehicle was 30.0 at the conveyor washes (where you put your car in neutral and you are run through the wash) in the study, and 44.8 at the in bay automatic car washes( where you pull up and stop and the wash moved around you). 20 gallons of fresh water was the amount found to be the average amount of water used washing a car outside of a car wash by the Residential Car Wash Water Monitoring Study. I read a lot of articles that claimed mush higher rates for water usage at home but quite frankly I couldn’t find the sources to substantiate these claims.
While many car washes tout the use of recycled water the actual amount of reclaimed water used is still relatively low, but this technology is continuously improving.
Type of Soap Used
You want to make sure the soap used doesn’t contain any phosphates or surfactants. Phosphates can lead to excess algae growth which can disrupt ecosystems and surfactants are toxic to marine creatures.
The type of soap being used is easier to control when you wash your car at home because you can check the ingredients before purchasing a soap or make your own. I did a search on the car washes near me to try to determine what type of soap they use. A lot of the companies didn’t have websites and if they did they didn’t mention the chemicals in their soap unfortunately but I was able to find one car wash in my area that uses phosphate free soap- Rio Car Wash. There are a growing number of commercial car washes in other areas promoting themselves as being eco-friendly so start by searching that for your area to try to find a phosphate free commercial car wash near you.
Disposal
How the water is disposed of after a car wash is extremely important. Even if you use phosphate free soap and no surfactants, the process may contaminate water with petroleum hydrocarbons (gasoline, diesel fuel, motor oil, fluids and lubricants) and heavy metals from normal vehicle wear.
A huge difference between using a commercial car wash and washing your car at home is where the water goes after the wash is finished. Water entering storm drains does not undergo treatment before it is discharged into our waterways unlike water that enters sanitary sewers. When you wash your car at home, the dirty water that results from the process ends up in your local watershed and can affect water quality and wildlife health. Federal laws in the United States and Canada requires commercial car washes to have absorption systems that prevent the chemical-filled water from traveling into storm drains. They must drain the waste water into the sewer system for treatment.
Not all water from car washes makes it into the sewer system, however. Car washes experience carry out, a term for cars transferring some of the contaminated water outside of the built-in absorption system. Some of the contaminated water also evaporates. The same study by International Carwash Association mentioned above found that about 21% of the freshwater water used by car washes doesn’t actually end up in the sewer system due to carry out and evaporation.
Even though washing your car at home may use slightly less water and it is easier to control the soaps that you use, based on the importance of disposal of contaminated water and water treatment, I believe that using a commercial car wash is the most environmentally safe option. I would recommend trying to find a conveyor belt commercial car wash with phosphate and surfactant free wash options. If this is not available then look for a self-service car wash in your area. These use more water than drive through car washes, but they allow you to select the soaps you use and divert your dirty water to the sewer system for treatment before being re-released.
If you’re out in the boondocks and neither of the above are an option, below are a few tips to clean your car more sustainably at home:
· Use biodegradable, phosphate-free, water-based cleaners.
· Use a spray nozzle on the hose to better control water flow.
· Wash on area that absorbs water such as gravel or grass to help filter the water.
· If your car is not too dirty, try waterless car wash options.
Comentarios