Water restricted washing?

[Coastal Eddie]

Actually, I think the federal Clean Water Act prohibits this in the U.S.
I don't think it is enforced in most areas, but I do think some cities are very strict about it.
Some form of water containment or recovery is needed in those areas.
Some of the pros have probably been working with this for a few years.

Charles

That Law has been of the books for 3 decades and is widely ignored in most places, but unfortunatey not here. I'm told it's starting to pick up some steam around the country lately, and watch it go crazy if the democrats are elected.

I've been working under its mandates for years and obviously its main focus is that NOTHING but storm water will go down a drain. The fines are enormous if you get caught violating, but it sure knocked off some lowballers in this neighborhood.

Here's a convoluted llittle description of what's going on in Ft Worth. The guy who wrote this owns a big pressure washing/chemical company.
http://www.dcs1.com/regs/

The restrictions can pretty much be a pain in the butt, but you get used to it.

 

[Big Leegr]

Just wondering-if you have a water restriction in place, and you choose something like S+W for your business, you'll go through a lot of towels. You will need to wash these towels. Are washing machines also affected by the restrictions?

As an aside, for those that can't use a hose, and want to use as little household water as possible, consider collecting your car wash water as you run your shower water. Fill a bucket with the "not warm enough" water and set it aside for later use. You could also use this water for other things like dishes, filling the washer before use, that sort of stuff.

 

[CharlesW]

That Law has been of the books for 3 decades and is widely ignored in most places, but unfortunatey not here. I'm told it's starting to pick up some steam around the country lately, and watch it go crazy if the democrats are elected.

I've been working under its mandates for years and obviously its main focus is that NOTHING but storm water will go down a drain. The fines are enormous if you get caught violating, but it sure knocked off some lowballers in this neighborhood.

Here's a convoluted llittle description of what's going on in Ft Worth. The guy who wrote this owns a big pressure washing/chemical company.
Municipal Regulations for Cosmetic Power Washing

The restrictions can pretty much be a pain in the butt, but you get used to it.

While I don't remember the details, (no pun intended), of the CWA, I think it applies to individual users as well as the commercial applications. If you wash your car in your driveway and the runoff reaches a storm drain, you are illegal and subject to a fine.
I do think you can wash in your yard where the water goes in the lawn. It isn't enforced in my area, but chances are good that it someday will be.

Charles

 

[CharlesW]

Just wondering-if you have a water restriction in place, and you choose something like S+W for your business, you'll go through a lot of towels. You will need to wash these towels. Are washing machines also affected by the restrictions?

As an aside, for those that can't use a hose, and want to use as little household water as possible, consider collecting your car wash water as you run your shower water. Fill a bucket with the "not warm enough" water and set it aside for later use. You could also use this water for other things like dishes, filling the washer before use, that sort of stuff.

Good question.
The CWA wouldn't apply to washing machines, but a general water restriction might.

When we had a water shortage due to the flood of 1993 severely affecting our water treatment plant, they ask users to voluntarily limit themselves in the amount of water used. I don't remember the quantity, but 50 gallons a day sticks in my mind.
The toilet suggestion was, "If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down."
You would be surprised at how little water you really need if you work at it. We waste unbelievable amounts everyday. Running the shower or faucet until the water is warm or cold enough for us is an excellent example.
We are very spoiled and I like being spoiled.

Charles

 

[Stephan]

I remember a couple years back here in sections of Connecticut there was a water ban during the summer because of a drought. Now the droughts we have here are nothing like other parts of the country have experienced. Luckily (in this case) I have well water that constantly flows out water and I could wash my cars as much as I wanted.

 

[Coastal Eddie]

While I don't remember the details, (no pun intended), of the CWA, I think it applies to individual users as well as the commercial applications. If you wash your car in your driveway and the runoff reaches a storm drain, you are illegal and subject to a fine.
I do think you can wash in your yard where the water goes in the lawn. It isn't enforced in my area, but chances are good that it someday will be.

Charles

Good question Charles. The enforcement of the CWA even though it's Federal Law is in my experience confined to the municipalities, and there is never enough enforcement to catch everybody. It took them a long time to catch me. More and more I see the local Fire Departments policing this stuff, and out here if the Surfrider Foundation gets on your trail, you're toast. The local laws are full of ambiguity, and sometimes the rules change weekly.
The biggest fight I had with them was the "California Rainwater Runoff Rule", which states that it's illegal to leave dirty washwater on the asphalt or concrete. The theory being that it would seep into the pavement, and the next time it rained the grime that had been laying there would "surface" and head to the drains mixed with the rainwater. When I got stung for this one I fought L.A. and Santa Barbara County for 6 months and won. There has to be a point of reason somewhere along the line, and we found one.

To answer the other part of your question, it was in the L.A. Times that a woman in Orange County (where the environmental laws are tough as nails) had been fined $900 for cleaning paint brushes in the gutter in front of her house.

Another point to be made about all of this is that if you're performing 100% water recovery in your operation, make sure to charge accordingly. You'll quickly see that your income will increase appreciably.

For the people who live in places where the law isn't enforced all I can say is GOOD FOR YOU.

 

[MagicCity33]

We are on restriction here in birmingham so I basically shut everything down. I started practising with SW on my cars to get my time up and to see if it will leaving any marring on my vehicles before using on my clients cars. I've found that it takes some scrubbing when used on tires and rims, but over all it works wonderfully. I still would like to try the ONR but will be soon looking into getting 5 gallons as I am down to (2) gallons of SW. We have been on restriction for the entire summer and supposeded it will not be lifted until next year sometime unless we get an enourmous amount of rain during the winter.

I've had it rough. My clients would come to my house but after getting a nice little letter from the water works stating my water usage has gone up and that I could possibly get fined I decided to wait until I get my trailer or go to my clients. Most don't mind letting me use their water, but they fall under the water restrictions as I do.

Now funny enough I can drive over to the bessemer area which is about 5 miles outside of city limits and get water all day long. The problem is I don't have my trailer yet so I've been stuck. Hopefully I will find a trailer soon as well as a tent that I can enclose my area so that the weather does not cause any problems.