By Charles Borchard
Part 3: A look into the future and see where the use of water in vehicle cleaning is going both from availability and cost stand points.
This is the final part in this three-part series. Over the last two months we discussed water in general and water reclamation in its two primary forms, we also touched on odor control for water reclamation and its importance. We described the reverse osmosis process, and its use for the production of water to use in the spot-free final rinse cycle, and how to addition of a spot-free rinse system would benefit any type of vehicle wash.
This month, we all discuss spot-free water use for other applications than just the final rinse, and we will take a look into the future and see where the use of water in vehicle cleaning is going both from availability and cost standpoints.
Quality Water & Chemistry
The design of car wash equipment and the buildings that house the car washes have risen to meet the expectations of a much more sophisticated consumer that seeks quality, convenience and value or should it be said value added. Value does not necessarily mean the least expensive, it means obtaining the best quality wash for the price. There are several ways you can improve the quality of the wash by upping its value to your customers and ensuring their return.
All car washes -- soft cloth, either conveyor or rollover, high-pressure touchless automatics, and self-serve bays -- use water as 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. Water softeners have been a mainstay in the wash industry and have provided a means to remove the hard mineral deposits that prevent soap from working efficiently. Water softeners also have been utilized to overcome the calcium carbonate that is the primary component of water hardness.