Autowash Express

Raleigh, North Carolina

This case study was written by the management of Autowash Express. Read on to learn how RECLAIM has helped one of Raleigh’s biggest car washes save money, conserve water, and go green.

Clean and Green: The best thing for your car and the community.

Custom Stainless Pumping Stand

You wouldn’t think that a business that relies on water as much as we do would be concerned about the rising consumption of this natural resource. But we are!

We’ve always been an environmentally friendly car wash, capturing 100% of our carwash water. When you wash your car at home you’ll use on average of 100 plus gallons of fresh water for each wash. By comparison, Autowash Express uses only 11-12 gallons of fresh water (with our basic wash) per vehicle and we capture all of the runoff water so it doesn’t pollute the water shed and fresh water system. We are so efficient the City of Raleigh has even certified us to operate during stage 2 water restrictions.

But we wanted to do even more!! So we’ve kept our eye on the ever-changing water filtering technology. And as soon as it was ready, so were we. We have implemented NEW innovative technology that turns our entire carwash process into a mini-water treatment facility.

Our new state-of-the-art RECLAIM filtration system manages our fresh water consumption and improves the carwash process. By reclaiming our carwash water, we’re reducing our fresh water consumption by as much as 80% plus, which allows us to do the best thing for your car and the community.

Spot-Free reverse osmosis unit

With these new improvements we can now offer you a mineral free and sediment free carwash. Our Reverse Osmosis Process (Soft Water Processing) consists of purifying the water and separating it from dissolved salts and other unwanted solutes. So, we bathe your car in a spot free, soft water rinse. The reject water from the softening process is clean….. and good water is re-used again at the beginning of our carwash process. Our high pressure pumps allow the system to re-use and re-process the water in a loop that re-filters and re-softens the water continuously.

In addition to the highest quality Soaps, Conditioners, Waxes and Clear Coat Rinse Agents, we use very expensive nozzles made from stainless steel and ceramics. The computer system that operates the Car Wash Tunnel measures each vehicle. The computer turns the water on only when the vehicle is under each wash station in the car wash process. The system turns the water off when each vehicle passes that station. The nozzles are a 40 degree spread or fan shape spray and they only allow .025 gallons or .050 gallons per minute to pass through each nozzle. The result is a very efficient use of the small amount of water coming from the nozzles.

Our mini-water treatment facility enables us to give you the finest carwash process available in the Raleigh/Triangle area, while also being clean and green. It’s a win for you, your car and the environment.