TEMECULA--Illegal to Wash Your Own Car??! (San Diego, Riverside: purchase, disposal, live in)

[CantWait2Bthere]

Hello folks...I was wondering if any of you live in areas where it is illegal to wash your own car and if so have you known it to be enforced?

I ask because in today's local paper (The Californian) I read that it's "technically" been illegal to let soap run off drain into the street since 2004.

The story says that Temecula is clamping down on mobile car wash businessess that set up in office building parking lots and wash cars while people are at work. They are now required to purchase 'wash mats' that go under the car and catch the soapy water. Then they have to pump the water in tanks and take them somewhere for the water to be recycled.

I am all for protecting the enviroment, but if I were in charge I would be a bit more concernced with fertilizer and pest poisons going down the storm drain than with some bio degradable car wash soap.

Please someone educate me on this because it sounds kinda big brotherish.

[Winston Smith]

I seem to remember this being an issue in Thousand Oaks as far back as the late 80s, at least for mobile car-wash services.

[NYSD1995]

I believe the ordinance exists in many CA cities, city of San Diego has it too.

The reason for the ordinance probably stems from the late 70's drought, it is a combination of water conservation and pollution control. Remember you live in a desert with no native water sources. Your water is imported from a thousand miles away. San Diego and Riverside get their water from the LA water authority at great expense.

Also, San Diego's storm drain system essentially runs directly to the ocean. There is no treatment system for storm drain runoff.

My wife, having grown up during the drought times, is especially conscious about water usage in the home. I grew up on the East Coast where water is abundant and never had to give any thought to how I used or wasted water.

[morefromcali]

I agree that it's mostly about water conservation. Most of the car washes use a system that recirculates at least some of the water so that much less is used in the process than if you wash your car yourself. With only 3 inches of rain this year, it really is something to think about

[da jammer]

if you check into the mobile car washing business it is quite common for the folks in this line of work to have a run off capturing and disposal system virtually anywhere in the country. No matter where you live there will be someone that will and should raise concern about this type of discharge into the sewer systems. I was in the swimming pool business in so CA for many years and several cities have very strict ordinances concerning the emptying of pools. The issue of the lack of water sources local to southern Cali I have brought up in several threads...but people like to have their sunny weather soooo