The city of Oxnard, California, has joined a growing number
of municipalities that are cracking down on mobile car wash operations. Under
rules approved two weeks ago, mobile car washers will soon be required to
capture all runoff and recycle it or dispose of it at an approved facility.
Failing to do so could cost them up to $10,000 a day in fines.
While some owners of these small businesses, as well as others in the
community, are protesting the rules, the city is focusing more on
nonpoint-source pollutants—not only, or even primarily, the detergents or
cleaning agents used, but also the oil, grease, brake dust, and other chemicals
washed off the vehicles.
Commercial car washes have long had to recycle or treat their water, and
the city says the new rules simply require mobile operators to do the same. Mats
and vacuum systems can be used to collect and transport the wash water. One
Oxnard councilman estimates that obtaining the necessary equipment will cost
each operator about $1,000 up front.
Many cities have also focused on fundraising car washes—the kind the high
school band or ski team used to hold on weekends on a vacant lot—requiring them
to either capture the water or arrange to hold the events at a commercial car
wash facility that can handle the runoff. Although it’s often been unpopular to
target these commonly used fundraisers, public education—and the well-publicized
availability of alternatives, such as a car wash kit that the groups can
use—have made the rules more palatable.
How big a role should public education play in the regulation of mobile
car wash operations? The people who are paying for the convenience of having the
car wash come to them, rather than the other way around, might be willing to pay
a bit more to ensure that the runoff is safely disposed of, and it seems the
operators could convey that message as they pass along their higher costs. The
cities imposing new rules could do a lot to help, too, by making getting the
word out not just on the rules, but the reasons behind them.