Inside NS Wash’s Eco-Friendly Car Wash Water Recycling Systems

Jun 3rd 2019

Black car being washed through an eco-friendly car wash system

In today’s world, no car wash business can afford to avoid its environmental responsibilities. With the reality of new regulations surrounding water and power usage and the larger realities of our changing world, any professional car wash must also be an eco-friendly car wash. Making your car wash truly green can involve a wide array of initiatives, from replacing office supplies and fixtures with eco-friendlier options to switching from traditional foamers to bubbles and, perhaps most crucially, installing car wash water recycling systems.

At NS Wash, we think of water recycling (and environmentally friendly practices in general) as a win-win for car wash business owners. Water recycling simultaneously saves businesses money in the form of reduced water and power costs and facilitates business owners taking greater responsibility for their environmental impact via eco-friendly car wash practices.

Water Recycling Systems Basics

Simply put, car wash water recycling entails exactly what it sounds like: making sure water used in your car wash gets reclaimed and recycled rather than filtered into sewer or storm drain systems after use. In the modern world, closed loop wash water recycling systems are ubiquitous in the transit and car wash industries. From drive-through train wash systems to commercial-sized eco-friendly car wash businesses employing extensive car wash water recycling systems and eco-friendly cleaning agents and office supplies, the need for environmental consciousness and conservation has quickly grown from ideal to necessity—and the industry has been given evidence to support these changes.

According to the Federal Transit Administration’s last examination of the U.S. transit sector’s carbon footprint, American transportation, from private automobiles to public buses and trains, accounted for 30% of all greenhouse emissions in the United States. This is to say nothing of the additional significant water demands of any industrial wash system that keeps these transit vehicles in top condition. Our industry, as a whole, consumes massive amounts of water, and responsible usage of this precious resource has become legally mandated as well as ecologically necessary.

Regulations surrounding wash systems already require all car washes to use clarifier systems to separate dirt from oil before any water enters the sewer systems and storm drains below. We further recommend the use of above-ground clarifier systems which help with easier maintenance, simplified cleaning routines (that can usually be handled by staff), and leak repairs. This maximizes the usefulness of even basic car wash water recycling systems such as clarifiers for business owners, allowing them and their customers to enjoy both lower costs and a smaller eco-footprint.

Still, dedicated closed loop wash water recycling systems can do far more than clarifiers can alone. NS Wash proudly offers a complete range of clarifier and reclamation systems, with systems for small-to-medium sizes for commercial car washes and larger systems better suited to large-vehicle wash operations, such as those for public transit trains and buses or commercial trucks. Even a single 30-second wash on a private automobile can consume upwards of 50-gallons of water. Good car wash water recycling systems, such as up-to-date clarifiers and water reclamation systems, significantly reduce your business’s reliance on these exterior and, ultimately precious, water resources.

Car Wash Water Recycling System

Resource-Heavy: The Benefits of an Eco-Friendly Car-Wash

With such massive water demands inherent to the process, the increasing public attention toward commercial water usage makes it necessary to maximize one’s water efficiency, even outside of express water recycling systems and reclamation. Poor-quality water in bays and tunnels often leads to a poor-quality finished product for your customers. This is one of the primary reasons why car wash water recycling is good for business, as well as the environment.

NS Wash has thrived through our decades-long dedication to innovation and simple efficiency of design. We work hard to find points within the wash process where the smart implementation of water recycling systems can be effectively implemented, and we have always directed that revolutionary spirit, and the cutting-edge equipment it produces, toward servicing the needs of both our customers and, more recently, the environment we all share.

From creating more efficient clarifiers and extensive water reclamation systems, we at NS Wash see water conservation as a full-spectrum necessity and net benefit for our design and our customers’ success. NS Wash proudly offers less wasteful wash and scrubbing elements to upgrade even small commercial wash systems to cutting-edge, eco-friendly operation. We have innovated scrubbers that use bubbles instead of regular foam, saving both on freshwater and minimizing the amount of chemicals and cleaning agents being used in the process. We use hoses and tunnels that feature lower horsepower, thus using less water with each wash cycle. These, and other car wash water recycling systems, allow wash operators and owners to minimize their water use at every point in the wash process. Coupled with NS Wash water reclaim and clarifier technology, allowing owners to reclaim and clean a majority of used water for further use, we feel there has never been a better or more crucial time to be an eco-friendly car wash.

At NS Wash, we have never been content to rest on “good enough.” Further progress in car wash water recycling, such as reverse osmosis technology, allows for hyper-efficient water savings and opens the door for the potential of a closed loop wash water recycling system.

Recycling water, naturally, requires a car wash to rely less and less on outside water sources, municipal or private. This, of course, allows business owners to spend less on water, even as they reduce their draw on natural resources. In the modern society that features deeper regulatory restrictions, dedicated eco-friendly public opinion, and the reality of fees and penalties for careless misuse of water and other resources, responsible consumption is a watchword for the vehicle wash sector. Car wash water recycling systems, especially our low-horsepower equipment, allow car wash operators to spend less on municipal power, further lowering operating costs and carbon footprint.

Woman stands on a platform with a speeding subway train in front of her

Embracing a Green Future

Car wash owners will be familiar with environmental and resource-saving policies that affect our business. From mandated closing times or even full-on closings during droughts to the changing of spending tendencies on the new generations of drivers, the car wash industry has seen its image change from a staple of mid-century car culture to a potentially wasteful luxury. It is more of a necessity than ever before to implement car wash water recycling and general eco-friendly car wash practices to guarantee the success and life of your business.

Water recycling systems, use of eco-friendly car wash chemicals and cleaning agents, deployment of high-efficiency clarifiers and water reclaim systems, as well as low-draw wash rinse and scrub equipment, lead to net wins for car wash owners and transit wash operators. Minimizing environmental impact is an especially pressing concern for large-scale bus, truck, and train wash operators, whose substantial expenditure of water and power can quickly reach eye-popping levels. NS Wash has long prided itself on the range and utility of its offerings. We service large-scale and public transit wash operations with efficient, modern car wash water recycling systems and water reclaim systems that can significantly reduce operating costs and your eco-footprint.

Water reclamation and eco-friendly closed loop wash water recycling systems need not be a burden on a car wash business. At NS Wash, we have worked to make water reclamation a cost-saving innovation for businesses, making it easier and more expedient to be environmentally conscious than not. We are proud to encourage these responsible practices in our industry and feel our philosophy of elegant and direct design has only given us an advantage in this ongoing pursuit.

If you are interested in upgrading your wash operation or learning more about car wash water recycling systems and how they can improve your business, we kindly invite you to browse our wide selection of clarifiers, eco-friendly wash machinery, and water reclamation and reverse osmosis technology. Our line of Eco Saver wrap-around brush wash machinery, along with our extensive line of clarifiers, are well-suited to commercial businesses and car washes, while we also proudly offer large-scale eco-friendly equipment for transit washes, such as our Nautica 4M system for school buses.

We offer car wash water recycling systems compatible with underground and above-ground wash systems, and in sizes suited to operations large and small. We are one of the largest suppliers of eco-friendly car wash equipment in the United States and abroad and have always kept in mind the simple fact that our success can be directly attributed to the success of our customers. If you would like to see how our expertise and decades of experience have helped us bring car wash water recycling to wash operations nationwide, we kindly invite you to contact us and explore our eco-friendly closed loop wash water recycling system options today.