Going Green—On the Road and at the Car Wash

Published: October 6, 2007, 5:33 am

While drivers are becoming more environmentally conscious by purchasing hybrid vehicles, many may not be aware that washing those automobiles at professional car washes also positively impacts the environment. Environmental Partners, Inc., Issaquah, Seattle, conducted two tests in 2006 to measure the potential impact of untreated car wash discharges into the storm water system (and thereby to streams and lakes) using fish mortality as a measure. In the independent study, underwritten by Vic Odermat, a lifelong environmentalist and owner of Brown Bear Carwash, Seattle, Washington, fish toxicity tests were performed using a water runoff sample collected from a fundraising car wash event held in a parking lot and compared against a simulated run-off sample that was potable.

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