By Charles Borchard

In order to conserve water we must first understand it and its unses within the vehicle wash environment.  H₂O -- the chemical description for water -- means it is made up of two atoms: hydrogen attached to one side of an atom of oxygen.  A water molecule is positively charged on the hydrogen side and negatively charged on the oxygen side.  Since opposite electrical charges attract, the side with the hydrogen atoms of one water molecule will attach to the oxygen side of another, making water tend to clump together.

Water is called the universal solvent because it dissolves more substances than any other liquid.  This also means whereever water goes it carries with it chemicals, minerals, and nutrients, and when it evaporates, it deposits these dissolved solids onto the surface from which the water evaporated.  For vehicle washing, water is the primary means of rinsing the dirt, road grime, salt and snow off the surface of the vehicle during the wash process.  All soaps use water as the delivery medium from the chemical station out to the vehicle to assist in breaking up those contaminants.  The higher the quality of water you use, the higher the quailty wash you will deliver.

There are three types of water used in vehicle washing:

 

 

This is tap water, either from a municipal water supply or private well.  It ranges in quality from great to terrible.  Some of the symptoms of poor quality tap water are high TDS (total dissolved solids) and either too high or too low of a pH reading (7.0 to 7.4 would be neutral and the ideal).  Some other things that would indicate water quality are turbid or cloudy appearance, iron presence in the water, and the hardness level of the water.

 

Simple tests conducted at the site by your car wash equipment representative will help with determining the quality of the fresh water.  The entity supplying your water will have a report, often available online.  This can be of value to assist you in deciding how and with what equipment you will improve your ability to deliver quality wash.  Water is an increasingly expensive commodity, and fresh water use in a vehicle wash application should be carefully considered and applied as to maximize its value.

 

 

This is water that either naturally or by processing has a total dissolved solids (TDS) count below 20 parts per million (ppm). The overwhelming majority of spot-free systems in current use are Reverse Osmosis.

 

To read the entire article, visit Water Conservation - The Basics Part I.