Question for city water users/apt. dwellers.

[vprdak]

Ok i recently moved into an apartment in a much larger city than where i am from, in order to go to college.. I carefully selected an apartment with a decent car wash area.. But now i am a bit scared to use it as i went to go check out the water the other day and noticed it smelled a bit of chlorine? Now i know that city water is indeed purified a bit but will this be harmful to my paint... As it has never been washed with anything but water from a well at my parents home.. Also how hard can i expect this water to be.. Any help/replies will be greatly appreciated.. thanks

[schoi]

Not sure, actually, but I`m interested as well.

[GTScott]

Let me shine some light on this, if I may. My degree is incivil engineering and I have been practicing water/wastewater design for a few years although I don`t do it full time. I don`t know what area of the country your family`s well was in, but you are more likely to find hard water (i.e., mineral rich) in groundwater than you are in city water in most areas. Water softening is a rather simple step that is added in most treatment processes, especially those in small towns that pull from a local aquifer, but may not be seen on residential wells or other non-municipal systems.



I would not be concerned with the chlorine. You may be close to the plant and thus have a higher chlorine residual in your water. This is not a big problem for your car. However, it would be interesting to see some research on LSP life when washed with high vs. low chlorine content water.



If you are interested in specific hardness of the naturaol waters in your area, check out USGS at:

http://water.usgs.gov/owq/FAQ.htm#Q12 and follow the links.



If you let me know what county you are in, I may be able to see exactly what you can find in your water.



Best of luck-

GT

[chml17l]

GTscott-- Good answer, but I doubt you could actually measure any durability differences from using chlorinated vs. non-chlorinated water. Additionally, there are just too many other influences that couldn`t adequately be accounted for in determining LSP longevity in the first place.



Unless you are only buying bottled water to drink or have a water filter, what about drinking all that chlorinated water? :eek: :scared: :hairpull



The chlorine is there at the low ppm level. Chlorine is used in ~ 95% of municipal water treatment facilities to disinfect and kill harmful bacteria in our drinking water. Chlorination remains the most common form of wastewater disinfection in North America due to its low cost and long-term history of effectiveness.



If you are so concerned about the chlorine, you could move to a third world country that doesn`t disinfect their water supply so that you could enjoy amebic dysentery or some other nasty water-borne diseases. :woohoo: :faint:



Relax and think about this--if you can drink it, it`s not going to hurt your paint or LSP.

[vprdak]

GTScott, actually i am from southwest mississippi and now i live in Hattiesburg, MS to be exact.....

[White95Max]

Does your tap water have the same smell? There`s always QEW. Just use that, and stay away from the "car wash area".

[Scottwax]

Does your tap water have the same smell? There`s always QEW. Just use that, and stay away from the "car wash area".



Excellent advice! No worries with spotting with QEW.

[oaevo8u]

I live in Houston and water quality stinks!!!!!..................I just use a QD after a wash and dry.

[LouisanaJeeper]

I live in Houston and water quality stinks!!!!!..................I just use a QD after a wash and dry.

houston has to have the WORST city water i have ever used. the hard water spots are rediculous. i got some water sprayed on my front end and now i have hard water stains everywhere, incuding the hard plastic. i did not know you could get hard water stains on plastic but apparently you can with water this bad

[MorBid]

I have the same probelm in the town home I rent here in Greece NY. The first thing I noticed when I moved in was that nasty chlorine smell too in the water.



I brought a Waterpik filter for the kitchen faucet and a Brita Water Pitcher so I have decent water to make coffee/tea/and cook with. I brought a DI water setup from a local supplier for washing the cars.



As I understand it, Chlorine is added at the water treatment plant to kill bacteria and germs in the "feed" water before it`s sent out. Water spots are caused by minerals in the water. If the water is so bad that they use so much Chlorine in it then I feel it`s bound to have alot of minerals in it. Only a TDS meter or some other analysis can tell.



If you have no choice but to use that water un-filtered then develop a good wash routine and don`t let water dry on the panels during washing for any reason. Rinse frequenty.



I was looking at a Car Shampoo that has water softeners in it last week. I think it was Meg`s, not Gold Class though.

[White95Max]

As I understand it, Chlorine is added at the water treatment plant to kill bacteria and germs in the "feed" water before it`s sent out. Water spots are caused by minerals in the water. If the water is so bad that they use so much Chlorine in it then I feel it`s bound to have alot of minerals in it. Only a TDS meter or some other analysis can tell.



Chlorine is added to municipal water systems as a means of killing bacteria. It is also a precautionary measure, because sewer lines are often close to the fresh water lines. If for any reason the sewer pipes (or welds/joints) corroded, there would be a possibility of sewer water getting into the water supply. The chlorine would serve as a primary defense against the bacteria that would get into the water supply. Flourine is also added, and I believe the main reason for that is to fight cavities.

And the water treatment plant doesn`t add the chlorine. The treatment process is at the end of the line. After the water goes through the treatment process, it is released into a nearby body of water, with most of the organic compounds and suspended solids removed.

The water is chlorinated soon after it is drawn INTO the system. In my area, there is a large building with a well that pumps groundwater. Chlorine and flourine are added before the water even leaves that building.



Water spots are caused by the mineral content of the water. As the water evaporates, the minerals remain on the surface.



I don`t believe the amount of chlorine gives any clue as to the mineral content of the water.










I was looking at a Car Shampoo that has water softeners in it last week. I think it was Meg`s, not Gold Class though.



NXT claims to have water softeners in it.

[Louie]

I`m a registered civil engineer in Florida; pretty scary process involved in drinking water preparation. Here most of the water is pulled out of a deep underground aquifer. First step is to add massive amounts of acid to lower the pH, this prevents the reverse osmosis membranes from scaling up. After the RO the pH is raised to near neutral using alkaline chemicals. Various other trace chemicals are added to adjust hardness prior to adding chlorine literally as it leaves the plant and heads towards a storage tank or the watermain distribution system. Water is processed continuously, not in batches. The chlorine is injected into the system based on the chlorine levels downstream, not a perfect process, but close enough.



Most sanitary lines are gravity and usually several feet deeper than the water lines. There are also rules that apply to constructing the lines several feet apart horzontally. If a gravity or sanitary force main ruptured, it would be nearly impossible to get bacteria into the watermain since it is under pressure itself. The chlorine in the water mains is essential to keep bacterial from growing in seldom used lines and to ensure that any minor contamination sources do not affect the entire system.



I`m not a big fan of drinking chlorinated water, the most effective way to remove it is using a charcoal filter at the final drinking source - I added one to the water line on the fridge`s water / ice dispenser.



I do not know the effect of low levels of chlorine (3 parts per million) on the durability of waxes and sealants, I would imagine that the hardness of the water - the main source of water spots - would be more of a problem. Water softeners can help this by exchanging calcium ions for sodium ions, but since you live in an apartment this probably is not an option. As far as "softeners" in products, I`m not sure how they work or if create an ion exchange. They could be sheeting agents that reduce the water tension preventing the formation of small beads of water so the water (and minerals) slide off the surface instead of beading.



Sorry about being heavy on facts and light on solutions!