City Requires Mobile Detailers to Capture Run Off!

[Relaited]

I know we have an Eco Detailing Forum, but I think this belongs right smack in the middle of a Business Management Forum, as I think this is where it belongs.

If a tool where deemed unsafe, and was taken off the market, or there were some tax law that fundamentally challenged the way our industry operates ... this is where that would be posted.

The change most new was coming is here. time to fundamentally rethink the way cars are cleaned which is the predicate act before you can detail it.

If you operate mobile, this is a must read. IF not, this should be exciting for you as I think this is a compelling event that materially changes the underlying fundamentals of the industry. It necessarily,meaning could not be otherwise, changes the image and professionalism of our industry. no more bucket & hose ... the regulations will not allow it.

We will be left with an industry that is better funded and capitalized to start, no more shady tree "Detailers", and a step to eliminate this issue ... one City at a time.

Best article I have seen that captures the compelling event, necessitating change

What think?

-jim

Oxnard will force mobile car washers to capture runoffs : Oxnard : Ventura County Star

[slicknickis3]

Cars and trucks pick up oils, brake dust and other chemicals from the roadways. When that’s washed off, it goes into storm drains and flows directly to the ocean, he said.

So when it rains what happens to that water? Goes the same place wash water does. Do these oils and brake dusts only come off when professional detailers wash cars? Obviously the simple answer is 'no'.

If Oxnard was more concerned with water run off than finding another creative way of taxing businesses they'd require everyone to have their car professionally washed (with a wash mat of course) each and every time before it rained. I'm willing to bet there's more contamination entering the water from rain fall on dirty cars then there is from a simple ONR wash by a professional. So will EVERYONE who owns a car be forced to purchase and park their car on one of these mats each and every time and place there's a threat of rain??

Having said that, I *DO* think something like this could be adapted to govern those who use MANY gallons of water through a pressure washer/hose to clean a car. There's a run-off issue there compared with ONR or other No-Rinse/Waterless washes.

I agree with you that the image of Mobile Detailers needs to be improved, but I don't think a wash mat is going to be that singular change. Is it a step in the right direction? I think it is for those that go out to a job site and blast 15 gallons of water on a car and leave. Not so much for those that use a gallon or two of ONR wash and have maybe 15% of that hit the ground. I think that in and of itself is an improvement in image, using a fraction of the amount water in an environmentally safe formula with virtually no run-off.

How will mandating wash mats make the industry better funded and capitalized to start? Because a municipality is going to charge someone for a wash mat, that will deter those people operating on a shoe string budget? What happened to this countries entrepreneurial drive? If people had a solid idea and business model, they could go out and try to make it happen and become successful, now we'd like to limit that opportunity to only those that are better funded and have more capital available at start-up? This isn't the insurance or financial industry, massive start-up capital isn't mandatory, nor should it be.

I think that article is anything but compelling...

[Setec Astronomy]

Originally Posted by slicknickis3

So when it rains what happens to that water? Goes the same place wash water does. Do these oils and brake dusts only come off when professional detailers wash cars? Obviously the simple answer is 'no'.

Ha ha, this reminds me of another thread about this a few years ago when Scottwax said "well, then they'd better outlaw rain, too". It does seem like a bit of a crock, when the percentage of cars that are washed outside is such a small percentage (vs. never washed and tunnel washed), compared to all the oil drips, antifreeze drips, gasoline drips, brake dust, and tire dust that is deposited on the roads by all traffic that gets washed into the storm drains when it rains.

California has always been a little nuts about this, perhaps rightly so since much of the heavily populated areas were desert that have been irrigated for habitability, and therefore are more likely to have runoff rather than "sink in", but I guess in other places...the argument "but it's only one car!" doesn't really work because the converse is saying it's ok to feed wheel cleaner to fish...it's not the amount, it's the principal. Kind of like saying to a cop after you got stopped for speeding "but I was only a few MPH over the limit"...either you are speeding or not.

That being said, I don't want a ticket for just a few MPH over the limit or a ticket for washing my car in the driveway.

EDIT: I guess the most ridiculous example of this here in the northeast is what I was reading in the paper about de-icing salt on the roads for this past winter. A year or two ago the town came around and put little stickers on all the storm drains with a drawing of a fish and "this drains directly to rivers and lakes" or something like that...and then they go and put down hundreds of thousands of TONS of salt on the roads here in the area. I dunno, maybe the fish they show on that sticker is a salt-water fish...

[Dsoto87]

Haha setec. Good point about the ice/salt mixture. I agree with the above too.

I do believe though that there should be some sort of restriction on amount used.

I personally think foaming is a huge waste of water and is really just a novelty.

Carwashers like the one in the story should really look into rinseless washes. I bet those two using the pw could have got that job done quicker using something like onr. Granted a PW is needed every once and a while, its not needed everytime.

I could wash my car everyday of the week and still use less water than someone who washes traditionally just once.

[Picus]

They're pushing this in Ontario too. If we start getting fined I'll just move everything to a fixed location.

[fergnation]

Actually the answer to all of this is = Car diapers. We could all jsut drive around with a big diaper wrapped around our car. So every time it rains all of the dirt can fill up the diaper and then we just change it. Oh but then we fill up the landfills. So we use cloth diapers, but then we have to use water to wash them. Oh well, I guess I will nix the patent on the car diaper.

[slicknickis3]

Originally Posted by fergnation

Actually the answer to all of this is = Car diapers. We could all jsut drive around with a big diaper wrapped around our car. So every time it rains all of the dirt can fill up the diaper and then we just change it. Oh but then we fill up the landfills. So we use cloth diapers, but then we have to use water to wash them. Oh well, I guess I will nix the patent on the car diaper.

Niceeeee

[Bythehour]

Originally Posted by Picus

They're pushing this in Ontario too. If we start getting fined I'll just move everything to a fixed location.

It's not being pushed. It's actually a by-law in Toronto. As of last summer, no tickets had been issued, ever. City officials said that if they get any complaints from citizens, they would probably "educate" the offender.

Many have said that it's a stupid law. Much of the Toronto area have shared sanitary and storm sewers, so it all goes to the same place for treatment.

[Showroom Shine]

Very important info here. I know it's headed this way. I have already put money back for a Vacume Broom,and Detail Plus Waterless System,and of course ONR,and my first venture DRI WASH N GUARD! It will be a little while and Ohio will have the same laws. They currently have laws here in Ohio now,but they are not inforced . Won't be long!

[Relaited]

These responses are exactly why Regulators have the opinion they do about our industry..

-jim

[Picus]

Originally Posted by Bythehour

It's not being pushed. It's actually a by-law in Toronto. As of last summer, no tickets had been issued, ever. City officials said that if they get any complaints from citizens, they would probably "educate" the offender.

Many have said that it's a stupid law. Much of the Toronto area have shared sanitary and storm sewers, so it all goes to the same place for treatment.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply the law was being pushed. I meant the enforcement of the law was starting to happen. I've been receiving calls from local re-sellers of water reclamation systems too (coincidentally, I am sure! ).

[SuperBee364]

Originally Posted by Picus

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply the law was being pushed. I meant the enforcement of the law was starting to happen. I've been receiving calls from local re-sellers of water reclamation systems too (coincidentally, I am sure! ).

Makes me wonder how much of a "carbon footprint" the manufacture, sale, and use of these "water reclamation" systems have. I'd just about be willing to bet that it is a net loss to the environment when you compare "reclaiming water" vs. letting it go where ever it goes. Most of the time, big diesel trucks pull up to your water reclamation tank, and spew diesel fumes into the air as they pump the water from your tank onto the truck. Then the truck does this same act again, pumping it into the holding tank at the reclamation facility, and it goes on from here. This is "green"? i don't think so. Not to mention all the "carbon footprint" from the actual manufacturing of the tanks and materials used to construct thse "green" devices. The math just doesn't justify the law (which seems very typical of all these "green" things.) A bit of biodegradeable car washing soap is more of a concern? mmmmhmm.