The Federal Way News located in Washington State recently wrote an article that car wash operators and charity organizers ought to perk up to. It’s that time of year again when community organizations and small groups come out in force washing cars to raise money for their varied causes. While many smaller organizations depend on the funds raised by these makeshift carwashes, they can hurt business for professional carwashes, and it turns out that they’re bad for the environment too. According to the article:

…before you send all that oily, soapy water down the storm drain, Federal Way’s Surface Water Management Division and the Puget Sound Car Wash Association (PSCWA) want to remind you that not only is this very harmful to wetlands, streams, and lakes, but it is also a violation of state, local, and federal pollution laws.

Unlike the sanitary sewer systems, water that runs into the storm drains goes directly to lakes, streams, and wetlands with little or no treatment.

Runoff from car washes is highly toxic to aquatic life and is one of the reasons that streams are not as healthy as they should be. [read more...]

At the end of the day, professionally operated carwashes are typically more environmentally friendly than non-professional washes. The article recommends that fund raising groups team up with professional washes who will donate some of the proceeds. From a marketing standpoint, while not likely to make as much money when donating proceeds to charity, a car wash that works with community service groups has an excellent way to generate free advertising and positive publicity while attracting new customers.

This year’s late cold temperatures are making news in more ways than one. Road crews are getting better and better at salting and sanding roads with each passing year. But that efficiency, while it makes the roads safer to drive on, also takes a toll on cars. It’s not just sand and salt the road crews are dumping on streets either. They also often use a combination magnesium chloride and other de-icing chemicals. This combination of elements can be extremely corrosive to cars.

In winter weather, street crews use magnesium chloride and other chemicals to de-ice roadways. Collins said those chemicals do damage to your car’s body and paint. “They’ll just eat away at that stuff,” he said.

The Colorado Department of Transportation says magnesium chloride does contain corrosive products and it can damage to your car, so it recommends you wash your car after every major snowstorm.

“I’ve actually talked to a body shop a couple days ago,” said Collins. “They said you should wash the mag chloride off before it even dries.”

A car wash in twenty degree weather might seem crazy, but Collins said ice will melt; chemicals will not. “It’s better to have a little ice on your vehicle than chemicals and things like that.” [more...]

Car washing is becoming a weekly routine for many car owners across the Midwest this winter. It’s been an unusually cold and snowy February so far across many parts of the country — and that weather takes a toll on automobiles. The cold temperatures make it worth frequently checking tire pressure and anti-freeze levels. If you’re idling your car more to warm it up before you drive, it’s also a good idea to change your oil sooner than you normally would. But the thing that hurts your car the most is the salt that road crews pour on the road when the snow start falling. Jason Baird of Gratiot, Ohio, put it this way:

“I keep my car as clean as I can,” Baird said. He was having his car washed at one of the Go Kleens in Zanesville. “With all the salt lately, I wash it at least once a week.”

“Wash your car as needed, and try to be preventative,” he said. “Salt is very corrosive to the underside and paint, and could do some serious damage to the support structure. An underbody wash is very important, and wax is important to maintain the clearcoat finish.”

Ty Hankinson, owner of Go Kleen Car Wash, explained other effects salt can have on vehicles.

“It can tarnish rims, chrome and eat away at anything,” he said. “I’ve even seen it happen to new cars that weren’t even a year old. The sooner you get the salt off the better you are.” [more...]

“We’re kind of environmentalists to start with,” Geoff Baker, owner of Easywash said. Located in Vancouver Canada, Baker calls his wash the world’s most eco-friendly car wash. [See Easywash in the news...]

After traveling across North American in search of environmentally friendly carwashes, Easywash was built according to environmentally-sustainable principles to conserve energy, water, and the environment.

Easywash touts an “automatic” dog wash and self-service bike wash. They’re also proud of a pre-paid carwash system that allows people to go through an Easywash without even getting out of their car. A customer simply pulls up to one of Easywash’s three bays where a computer system reads a tag on the inside of the car and opens the bay door.

Easywash hopes to install a hydrogen fuel cell in 2007 that will help power the car wash and heat water.

Read more about Easywash on the web at: http://www.easywash.com

CIO Magazine writes a survey article about Delta Sonic, a company specializing in car washes, detailing, lube shops and convenience stores, and their utilization of Business Intelligence (BI) to maximize sales.

Boebel and his team expanded the system to other business units such as the car wash and oil change business. The information gleaned from the convenience stores and car washes—based on knowing which promotions work best and generate sales of other products and services plus the ability to better track cashier statistics to prevent losses—have returned enough to recover half of the initial investment. “It’s really paid off,” Boebel says.

This article offers an interesting perspective on how some of the bigger players are utilizing information technology to beat the competition.