Cleaning Your Car in an Eco-Friendly Way

Washing your car can be a daunting task it means bringing out hoses, buckets, and sometimes harsh chemicals, but one local car wash is using a unique recycling process to make your car shine, and keep those chemicals out of the water system.

SpeedWash Car Wash uses biodegradable cleaning products and less than 20 gallons of fresh water every car it washes. General Manager, Sam Baggarly, says that’s equivalent to about half of a shower for an average person.

Baggarly says, washing your car at home wastes between 5 to 10 gallons of water every minute.

SpeedWash uses a reclaiming system. 80% of the water used to wash cars at the facility is recycled water. According to Baggarly,”All the water from our tunnel goes into a centralized pit that then goes through a tank system [and] allows us to separate the oil and the sediment from the water.”  

The process of using recycled water keeps SpeedWash’s prices down, which brings savings to the consumer. Customer Ricky Smalley says, “I don’t have to use the water out of my well. When I bring it here it’s much more efficient. They recycle water. I’m not not putting chemicals into the street or into the system,” and he’s not alone, Tommy Powell, agrees,”I think it saves a little bit versus paying for water and stuff like that.

There’s even an added bonus to using the recycled water.”A little bit of soap does stay in the water so you are getting that as a secondary wash factor when we are washing with it,” says Baggarly.

SpeedWash Car Wash is certified by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is looking into donating a part of the captured water to under developed countries.