Mike's Cares

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Mike’s Cares about the Environment

Few people realize that washing a vehicle in the driveway is a very environmentally un-friendly chore. Unlike household waste water that enters sewers or septic systems and undergoes treatment before it is discharged into the environment, what runs off from your car goes right into storm drains -- and eventually into rivers, streams, creeks and wetlands where it poisons aquatic life and wreaks other ecosystem havoc. After all, that water is combined with other toxins including runoff from gasoline, oil and residues from exhaust fumes -- as well as the harsh detergents being used for the washing itself.

On the other hand, federal laws in the U.S. requires commercial carwash facilities, like Mike’s Carwash, to drain their wastewater into sewer systems, so it gets treated before it is discharged back into the great outdoors. Mike’s uses computer controlled systems and high-pressure nozzles and pumps that minimize water usage. We also recycle and re-use some of the rinse water through a large water reclaim system.

The International Carwash Association reports that automatic car washes use significantly less water than even the most careful home car washer. According to one report, washing a car at home typically uses between 80 to 140 gallons of water. At Mike’s car wash, we average less than 58 gallons per car.