Water Issues Here In NO CA

Beemerboy

Beemerboy

Just One More Coat
Over the weekend while detailing two cars...I was finishing up the wash of one car...hose and buckets out...wet driveway...a couple rides by on their bikes and she yells to me "save the water"

I didn't say a word to them and they kept going...We are not in a good place here in Northern CA for water at the present time...if the next few months are wet, we should be OK, but mandatory water rationing is something that I think we will see this summer.

So that leads me to what to do on car washes...lucky for me there is a coin op wand place less than a mile from the house, so I can use that..for wells & wheels...S&W would be the next best thing for getting the paint clean..I hate to do it this way as I don't always feel like I get the car as clean as I can bucket washing in the driveway.


Any suggestions from the gang?
 
There is no water shortage. Two thirds of the planet is water, how can there be a shortage. This planet has all of the water it has ever had since it was formed. Using water does not remove it from the ecosystem. You wash your car, you use water, the water flows either in to the sewer or it evaporates. Either way it finds its way back into the ecosystem, just not in exactly the same location. There IS a supply shortage of cheap water. People have tapped out the cheap sources rivers, snow melt, lakes. Population has outstripped the cheap sources. Lets take California as an example. It has one of the longest coastlines in the US. It has access to the Pacific Ocean and a supply of water that could meet its needs and leave the river water for neighboring states without a coastline. Desalination works, it is expensive, but it works. But there is no water shortage, people just are not ready to invest in the technology (added cost) to supply the water they need because politicians allowed the population to outstrip infrastructure.
 
theamcguy said:
There is no water shortage. Two thirds of the planet is water, how can there be a shortage. This planet has all of the water it has ever had since it was formed. Using water does not remove it from the ecosystem. You wash your car, you use water, the water flows either in to the sewer or it evaporates. Either way it finds its way back into the ecosystem, just not in exactly the same location. There IS a supply shortage of cheap water. People have tapped out the cheap sources rivers, snow melt, lakes. Population has outstripped the cheap sources. Lets take California as an example. It has one of the longest coastlines in the US. It has access to the Pacific Ocean and a supply of water that could meet its needs and leave the river water for neighboring states without a coastline. Desalination works, it is expensive, but it works. But there is no water shortage, people just are not ready to invest in the technology (added cost) to supply the water they need because politicians allowed the population to outstrip infrastructure.
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Try telling that to the Sonoma County officials when they start fining me this summer for using to much water:huh:

Also how's this going to solve my water problem this summer?:wall
 
Well here they build a Desalination plant and it's now up and running. i think it's the largest in the US. It's very expensive to build but in the long run worth it. Just be on the lookout for the water cops, if they have them in your area.
 
jaybs02 said:
Dave what about ONR or DP's 4in1?
Granted it may take 2 gallons but it may keep you going
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Those are on the list...my thoughts are the local car wash for getting the bulk of the car done...then I can finish here...Another thing would be to just wash the well and rims in the driveway and finish up the waterless stuff
 
It makes an interesting topic.

During the summer year during the drought, they had strict rules. Car washes had to meet certain recycling claims in order to stay in business but I am sure the "car wash lobby" wants restrictions since it cuts down on competition. They will waste more water than what I would use but they have the lobbying power. Some people started drilling wells. I am on a state regulated a community well system that also got regulated despite the fact the wells were not really having issues...it was the lakes used by the cities. Private wells were exempt only because they could not manage them.
 
Optimum No Rinse and Quick and Easy Wash would be a good compromise for keeping your car clean. You can even buy a couple gallon bottles of water and tell the water officials that you used them to wash the car. Spray and Wipe is also a very good alternative.

Both options are a little scary if you haven't used them before. But, once you do use them, you'll be very happy. Only the tires would require something different if they were really dirty.

I still like to do a bucket wash. As you can imagine, I always have access to ONR and S&W. I do use them, but not as often as I should. I am working on that though. Those later methods so keep me from having to follow up with a leaf blower to get the excess water out of the trim and body seams.

It's just one of those things that requires you to move a little bit from your comfort zone.
 
I know most here have done this before. Try a prewash soak with diluted BUG SQUASH, followed by a rinse of that product and then wash wash with more limited water. Did our trailblazer yesterday at the shop, we have a water meter on the hose, and used a totalof 13 cubic feet of water. Multiply by somewhere around 7.5 for conversion to gallons. Comes to around 100 gallon to do a double wash on the trailblazer. Not to bad considering I used that much on my pickup right before that. Both were filthy from salt, sand, and other winter road grime since I last cleaned them up. Thats about ythe same amount of water for 1-1 1/2 loads of laundry. I did not use a power washer either. I remember when we had a supposed water shortage here a few years ago, they tried closing the car wash/ laundry mat (city empolyee was employed there), so that wasnt going to happen. Then they were going to close the ready mix concrete company. They just dropped pumps in the creek and used the water out of there for a time. At one time they also were going to shut the water off to the fertilizer companies and the farmers who used the water in their sprayers for weed control. That didnt happen!!! Agriculture is what the area is about! Those in areas with limited water areas could purchase a large tank to sore water in from the rain gutters for use later on. Those are not cheap but cheaper than a couple citations I suppose. Just build a building over the the tank so algae wont grow in the water. Keep it dark inside also!! You could also haul it in with smaller tanks from other sources such as running creeks, other clean water supplies, theres plenty of lakes in those mountains!!!!!!
 
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