Carwash Myths Debunked
These myths may shock you but the Evidence can't be argued.
Driveway washing uses less water than a professional car wash.
Industry numbers indicate that a typical car washed by a consumer in a driveway takes as much as 120 gallons (450 litres), while the industry WaterSavers™ program target is 40 gallons (150 litres) per wash. Don’t take the industry’s word; the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) in the U.S. did its own examination of this issue which ended up as a YouTube video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQA10gMG_aU&feature=player_embedded.
The reality:
Professional carwashes use on average about a third of the water used when washing a car at home.
Professional carwashes use too much water.
Based on the Consumer Energy Centre calculation, an average bath uses 30-50 gallons (115-190 litres), while the average shower is 5 gallons (20 litres) per minute for old style shower heads or 2.5 gallons (10 litres) for low-flow shower heads. The WaterSavers™ program target for a tunnel carwash is 40 gallons (150 litres) per wash, or about the same as an average bath or an eight minute shower with a standard shower head. The moral of the story, to save water take showers with a low-flow shower head and wash your car at a professional carwash instead of in your driveway.
The reality: To save water take showers with a low-flow shower head and wash cars at a professional carwash instead of in the driveway.
Storm sewer water is treated.
Few people realize that there are two parallel sewer systems in most municipalities, the storm sewer hooked up to street grates that take water runoff from rain directly to lakes and rivers, and the sanitary sewer system which takes industrial and household waste water to a processing plant. The Leger Marketing survey showed that on average 51 per cent of the Canadian population believes that water from storm sewers goes to a treatment plant, or is absorbed by the land, or just don't really know what happens to it.
The reality: Letting any type of chemical or soap run into storm sewers sewers can be environmentally harmful.
Using environmentally friendly soaps means you can wash your car in the driveway.
There are no such things as environmentally benign soaps, even those labeled environmentally friendly leave a chemical footprint for aquatic life to deal with. Consumers should take care to avoid having any kind of soaps, chemicals or fertilizers run off of their property into storm sewers for this reason. In addition, according to a Washing Wisely fact sheet from the City of Toronto, "The dirt on cars can contain toxic chemicals, heavy metals, oil and grease. When you wash a car in your driveway or on the street, that dirty water runs into the storm sewers and straight into local waterways, contributing to water pollution and affecting Lake Ontario's water quality." Unless you're living in southern Ontario of course, it will be some another lake or river.
The reality: Professional carwashes are clearly the environmentally friendly alternative to driveway washing.
Alberta squanders water resources.
Alberta is Canada's energy resource capital, and when it comes to water conservation, they are as well. This is born out in the Leger Marketing survey conducted last December which found that 86 per cent of Albertans indicated they are more likely to wash their cars at a professional carwash versus 8 per cent which indicated they prefer to wash in the driveway. The number for Ontarians who stated a preference for the professional car wash was only 55 per cent with 31 per cent indicating they were likely to wash their cars in their driveway.
The reality: Ontario and most other provinces clearly have a long way to go compared to Alberta in terms of public opinion.
Industry numbers indicate that a typical car washed by a consumer in a driveway takes as much as 120 gallons (450 litres), while the industry WaterSavers™ program target is 40 gallons (150 litres) per wash. Don’t take the industry’s word; the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) in the U.S. did its own examination of this issue which ended up as a YouTube video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQA10gMG_aU&feature=player_embedded.
The reality:
Professional carwashes use on average about a third of the water used when washing a car at home.
Professional carwashes use too much water.
Based on the Consumer Energy Centre calculation, an average bath uses 30-50 gallons (115-190 litres), while the average shower is 5 gallons (20 litres) per minute for old style shower heads or 2.5 gallons (10 litres) for low-flow shower heads. The WaterSavers™ program target for a tunnel carwash is 40 gallons (150 litres) per wash, or about the same as an average bath or an eight minute shower with a standard shower head. The moral of the story, to save water take showers with a low-flow shower head and wash your car at a professional carwash instead of in your driveway.
The reality: To save water take showers with a low-flow shower head and wash cars at a professional carwash instead of in the driveway.
Storm sewer water is treated.
Few people realize that there are two parallel sewer systems in most municipalities, the storm sewer hooked up to street grates that take water runoff from rain directly to lakes and rivers, and the sanitary sewer system which takes industrial and household waste water to a processing plant. The Leger Marketing survey showed that on average 51 per cent of the Canadian population believes that water from storm sewers goes to a treatment plant, or is absorbed by the land, or just don't really know what happens to it.
The reality: Letting any type of chemical or soap run into storm sewers sewers can be environmentally harmful.
Using environmentally friendly soaps means you can wash your car in the driveway.
There are no such things as environmentally benign soaps, even those labeled environmentally friendly leave a chemical footprint for aquatic life to deal with. Consumers should take care to avoid having any kind of soaps, chemicals or fertilizers run off of their property into storm sewers for this reason. In addition, according to a Washing Wisely fact sheet from the City of Toronto, "The dirt on cars can contain toxic chemicals, heavy metals, oil and grease. When you wash a car in your driveway or on the street, that dirty water runs into the storm sewers and straight into local waterways, contributing to water pollution and affecting Lake Ontario's water quality." Unless you're living in southern Ontario of course, it will be some another lake or river.
The reality: Professional carwashes are clearly the environmentally friendly alternative to driveway washing.
Alberta squanders water resources.
Alberta is Canada's energy resource capital, and when it comes to water conservation, they are as well. This is born out in the Leger Marketing survey conducted last December which found that 86 per cent of Albertans indicated they are more likely to wash their cars at a professional carwash versus 8 per cent which indicated they prefer to wash in the driveway. The number for Ontarians who stated a preference for the professional car wash was only 55 per cent with 31 per cent indicating they were likely to wash their cars in their driveway.
The reality: Ontario and most other provinces clearly have a long way to go compared to Alberta in terms of public opinion.
