Car Wash
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August 2006
Does anyone know of a car wash that recycles the water they use?
Apparently this is the most ecological way to wash your car
unless you can park your car on your yard and use phosphate-free
detergents. Otherwise, your soaps go through the storm drains,
straight into creeks and the bay untreated. I just called the
Solar Car Wash, and they said they do not recycle their water. I
can't believe that it is even legal to own a car wash that
doesn't, but it seems like most of them don't. If Berkeley
doesn't have a law about this, who does?! Does anyone know of
one near Berkeley? I'll wash it myself or drive through the
automatic kind.
Kaady carwash, near the El Cerrito Plaza, recycles at least part
of their water runoff.
Anon
I don't have a specific recommendation, but I believe that even
car washes that don't recycle DO drain into the SEWAGE system
(like your sink drain), and get treated before discharge - not
the storm drains that go right to the bay. See
http://www.calacademy.org/calwild/2004spring/stories/habitats.html
R.K.
Nov 2005
Can anyone recommend a QUALITY full-service car wash. I'm not
looking for a detailer, just a place to bring our cars maybe once
a month or so that will do a great job cleaning w/o damaging
them. Location is not important; great service at a fair price
is. Thanks!
There's a family that washes cars on the side of the gas station at 55th and MLK in
Oakland near Children's Hospital. They set up shop every weekend unless it's
raining, and usually work till 5pm. The prices start at $6 to $7 and go up,
depending on size of car and whether you want the inside vacuumed (I believe you
need to get there by 4pm if you want a vacuum). They wash the cars by hand, are
very thorough and fast, and they charge a reasonable rate for their service.
Lori
I have always been impressed by the service at High Street Car
Wash. For my Ford Escape, it is $24.95 for the full service
wash. I think they have three options. They are very thorough
and don't mind you giving the car a once around after they are
finished. The catch is it takes a long time. At least someone
with two kids in tow would think it was a long wait:) Plan on
about 30 minutes if there is no line up of cars, more like 45
minutes on a nice day, and even one hour if it's a weekend nice
day. There is a comfortable place to sit and wait inside or
outside and there are refreshments for sale to help you speed up
the time. If you were in for a long wait, you could also head
over to Home Depot.
I've also had experience with the Union 76 station on Broadway.
I'd say that they are not in the same league as High Street.
Not as thorough and detailed.
Dana
We really like Touchless Car Wash in Berkeley on Oxford, at Bancroft (?) or Kittredge.
We always get the cheapest drive-through exterior wash, but they do a great
job - 3 or 4 people soaping up and scrubbing
your car, then drive through the automatic sprayer thing,
and then some more people drying it by hand. I think it's around $12 and - the best
part - it
only takes a few minutes. Very easy and convenient for those
of us who have negative extra time but can't face the neighbors one
more day in that filthy car. Someday we might even get the interior done. GO
Please make sure when you choose a car wash that you pick one that doesn't pollute our creeks and the bay. (Some answering posts referred to families that set up shop on the street for carwashing.) Any soap that ends up on streets gets washed into storm drains that head to creeks or the bay without any treatment. Approved car washes should have a drainage system that sends dirty water to a sanitary sewer that sends the water through the treatment plant. You can help protect the bay by making informed choices.
Let's keep our waters clean
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