Conserving Water at a Car Wash Fundraiser

If you use a pressure washer during your fundraiser you can wash twenty cars with one capful of soap in a two-thirds filled five-gallon water bucket. Of course your soap will be biodegradable. At least twenty-five percent of the cars you wash will not require the use of soap due to previous wax coats that have been applied. These cars combine to lower your wet/rinse cycle to about thirty seconds of spray time or 1.2 gallons of water per car. This is fifty times more efficient. You can wash fifty cars with a pressure washer to the one car washed with a garden hose in the driveway. This constitutes a significant savings in water.

If you spray a car with special equipment (pressure washer) you will get a fine mist spray. The water can be applied evenly and gives the run off a spread effect. Thus the water that reaches the ground evaporates quickly. A car that needs to be soaped will have a wet/rinse cycle of about one minute and will use about two gallons of water. This water never reaches the storm drains.

You can also contract with a local professional mobile car washer or car detailer to help your group. They only use 2.4 gallons of water per car and their pressure washers only put out 2.4 GPM. If they spray a car for twenty seconds to get it wet, then soap off the dirt and then rinse the car for approximately forty seconds this equals sixty seconds or one minute of sprayed water at 2.4 gallons per minute.

Working with a local professional can be very efficient. You can also purchase a pressure washer from a large department store and do it yourself. By the time you've washed 150-300 cars at a fundraiser you too will become very efficient with the water. Look for a pressure washer that puts out 1,500 PSI (pounds per square inch). Gasoline driven units are best, but electric units are about one-half the cost. Remember, if you plan on buying an electric unit make sure that you have an outlet near your designated wash area. Expect to pay $300 for a good electric unit and $500 to $800 for a decent gas unit.

You may also be able to borrow a pressure washer from a local painting contractor. They use them a lot to clean the exterior of homes and commercial buildings before painting. See if someone in your group has a parent who is a painter. Maybe they will volunteer to act as a sprayer during your fundraiser since they have experience using this type of equipment.

If you will be using a straight garden hose remember that fundraisers generally use approximately 3,600 gallons of water; 360 minutes @ 10 GPM. So use shut-off nozzles or kink the hose when you're not spraying. If you use a pressure washer you will cut your wash time in half thus allowing you time to do twice the number of cars and earn more money. You will also have a lot less water to worry about that might be going into the storm drain.

At one fundraiser using a pressure washer, we washed 520 cars with 950 gallons of water in six hours. Approximately 150 cars with 3,600 gallons of water is generally the maximum amount of cars washed at this type of function using conventional methods. At this particular fundraiser we washed three and one-half times as many cars with one-third the water. We saved the City of Thousand Oaks, California 2,650 gallons of water that day and made the kids a substantial amount of money.

Fixed site car washes also conserve their water. That is why they are allowed to stay in business during a water shortage. They use seventy gallons of water per car during their complete car wash cycle. Four gallons of water is used during the pre-wash cycle. Sixty-six gallons of water is used during the soap/rinse cycle. Nearly two-thirds of the soap/rinse cycle water can be recycled. These approximately forty-four gallons of water are captured in a 10,000 gallon storage tank where they are used over again for car washes for the next three days. This dirty water is mixed with white sudsy soap and used during the car wash soap cycle. The average fixed site car wash uses four gallons (pre-wash) plus twenty-two gallons (sixty-six divided by two-thirds that is recycled) in the soap/rinse cycle bringing the total to twenty-six gallons of water per car. In the car washing industry this constitutes extreme efficiency.

If you are extremely careful with your water usage during your fundraiser, you can beat even the best recycling car wash, which still uses around fifteen gallons of water per car. And some self-serve car washes claim they use as little as 6.2 gallons of water per car.

"Lance Winslow" - If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs

---

Kingdom of Heaven

Kingdom of Heaven is Ridley Scott's way of trying to... Read More

A Time of Suffering

As the clock ticks down to the fateful day of... Read More

Church Building and Church Buildings

Church building is a term used to designate both the... Read More

Rock of Ages

William Jennings Bryan said: "Christians desire that their children shall... Read More

Is Buddhism A Religion?

Buddhism is a teaching which has spread worldwide absorbing the... Read More

What Is Faith?

1. Faith is a "spiritual substance" on the inside of... Read More

The Power Source

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized ?in the name of... Read More

The Wisdom of this World is Foolishness with God

Once you start to receive the knowledge and wisdom of... Read More

Possibilities in Prayer

Prostrateology is the theological term for the doctrine of prayer.... Read More

Behold: The Prince of Persia. . . the War in Iran has begun!

DÉJÀ VU (Where have I heard this before?)(Note: May I... Read More

Pope John Paul II, The Right Man at the Right Time

The world has been blessed to have Pope John Paul... Read More

How to Solve a Wonderful Mystery

The first issue we must recognize is the way God... Read More

Preachers In America Will Cause Americas Demise

American Preachers Are At The Forefront Of The Travesties Committed... Read More

Sex, Lies, & Videotape; Part 2

Acts 5:1-5:10 Sex, Lies and Videotape Part 2. Lies. What... Read More

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

In a time when public scrutiny is becoming tighter and... Read More

The Purpose of Our Being

Most people think that there is a higher meaning for... Read More

Serving

Some people may ask how do we serve God and... Read More

Knowing Hinduism or Hindu Religion

Hindus are concentrated in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka and... Read More

Jihad

Jesus spoke as much about Heaven as He did about... Read More

3 Clues To Know Where You Fit In Ministry Part 1

Clue Number 1: You Have TalentYou were born with at... Read More

Choosing the Christian Path

- 147.5 million Americans claim affiliation with a religious group-... Read More

Getting Your Money Out of Israel: The Presbyterian Church (USA) Recipe

Recently, the Presbyterian Church (USA) beat a drum for justice.... Read More

Let Her Be Covered Part Two

The framework for the message this morning will consist of... Read More

The Blessings Of God

As discussed in the "The Gospel of Convenience", and "Investing... Read More

Universal Salvation: Gods Love and Grace Will Overwhelm All Men!

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me,... Read More

A Gentle God

I was in my late teens when I first read... Read More

Truth or Consequence

Prime probability:You have been and are being deceived by those... Read More

While the World is on Fire - Part Two

Luke 19:49-19:46 This world is a tender box, of political,... Read More

Death of an American,The Death of Decency

John 16:2-3:16The Death of an American, The Death of Decency.... Read More

The Emmaus Journal ~ The Standards Of This World Are Not Our Standards

The Emmaus Journal The Standards Of This World Are Not... Read More

Resurrection Faith (Part 2)

Christ died. This is a historical fact not to be... Read More

What about the 4400?

Murders are so frequent in our country that a single... Read More

Church Retreat and Church Retreats

Church retreats are an excellent way to involve the church... Read More