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Community Car Washes and Water
Quality
Community car washes are a popular fundraising
activity for many organizations across the state. Few people realize,
however, that this method of raising money can adversely impact
groundwater and surface water quality. Depending on the location of the
community car wash, pollutants such as detergents, oil, grease, salt,
gasoline, and metals can infiltrate to contaminate groundwater or drain
directly to surface water bodies through storm drains and catch basins.
The untreated wash water harms plants and animals that live in streams,
rivers, and lakes. For this reason, unpermitted community car wash
discharges are in violation of both federal and state water pollution
control laws. Because cost and delays make permitting unrealistic, other
options should be investigated.
Before organizing a community car wash, DES strongly
recommends that you consider using other fundraising methods. If you
still decide to hold a community car wash event, please consider one of
the following options, in this order of preference:
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Hold your event at a commercial car wash.
Partnerships can be created with local commercial car washes to use
their facilities, or to sell tickets good for a car wash at their
location. Commercial car washes use much less water than community
car washes, and the wash water is typically treated and discharged
to a municipal sewer system, where the water receives additional
treatment before being discharged to surface waters.
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Contact your local wastewater treatment
facility. Before the car wash event, organizations should
contact their local sewer district to determine if the water can be
discharged to a sanitary sewer or a combined sewer. In some towns
and cities, there may be catch basins or garage drains (public works
or commercial garages) that are connected to the sewer system. If
so, holding car washes in these locations is desirable. Otherwise,
you may be able to arrange with the sewer district to create a basin
or sump and route your wastewater to a sewer manhole.
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Contact a licensed septage hauler. In
areas without a sewer or in communities without wastewater treatment
facilities, the wastewater may be pumped by a licensed septage
hauler from a plugged catch basin and trucked to a nearby wastewater
treatment facility. In this case, permission must be obtained from
the wastewater treatment facility where the wastewater is to be
hauled and the local public works or highway department should be
contacted for assistance in plugging the catch basin.
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Conduct the car wash on a permeable surface.
Surface water impacts will be minimal if you hold your car wash on a
ball field or gravel area where the water will infiltrate into the
ground. Care should be taken to avoid areas within a wellhead
protection area or other well recharge areas because of pollution
concerns. Obviously, this option and the one below would not be
feasible during the winter when the ground is frozen.
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Direct water towards a vegetated area and away
from storm drains and other surface waters. If the washing must
take place on a hard surface, water must be directed away from areas
that drain to surface waters. To accomplish this, storm drains can
be sealed and a pump can be used to direct the water to a level,
grassy area where there is enough room for all of the water to
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In all cases, organizations and homeowners should adhere to the
following guidelines:
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Wash the exterior of the vehicle only. Engine,
undercarriage, and transmission washing is prohibited.
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Use regular low-pressure garden hoses. Nozzles
should be attached to all hoses to conserve water and to provide
some additional pressure. Nozzles with automatic shut-offs should be
used to conserve water.
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Use non-toxic, biodegradable, and phosphate-free
cleaners. Soaps and detergents should be used sparingly. Avoid using
degreasing products, solvents, and tire cleaner products. If there
is a question whether a cleaning product is a potential contaminant,
the DES Groundwater Recharge Program can review the product
ingredient – contact the Groundwater Recharge Program at (603)
271-2858.
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Cold water is recommended – aquatic life can be
killed by sudden changes in temperature. |
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