[SCoach]

Having formerly worked for Florida's Dept. of Env. Protection (in water and legal) and having a GF that currently works for Water in a section responsible for testing stormwater runoff, I asked her some hard questions last night.

The issue to me with these ordinances is not so much that they seek to catch potentially harmful runoff. Frankly, I don't have a problem with the idea. It's going to be brutal for the mobile guys though. The REAL devil is in what to do with the run-off once you have it?

Industrial wastewater is regulated quite strictly here in Florida, and fines from those out of compliance bring in a LOT of money to cover budgetary shortfalls in the agency. But, large industrial installations have treatment options that the mobile detailer simply doesn't. It's not like you can catch your water, filter it, and present the sludge to a facility for disposal. Any such facility would have to be permitted to perform that function, and at currently it simply doesn't exist.

Honestly, I think the proper way to deal with the issue, is for it to be handled like home mechanics changing oil in the driveway. The oil is captured, delivered to the local commercial oil changing place or Autozone/PepBoys/ect. for disposal. They are equipped to handle that load, and permitted to do so. Once the mechanism is in place to handle it, the devil becomes the mechanism for how to capture it and filter it. Industrial installations have very sophisticated gear to do this. Separating oil, grease, and other contaminants from the water in a mobile environment isn't going to be an easy nut to crack. At least not in a cost effective way.

These types of mandates will either drive out mobile businesses completely, or only make them available to people with businesses strong enough to absorb the added expense of putting a capture system in place.

Sticky problem to be sure.