Tampa Bay Car Washes Embrace Water Recycling Amid Persistent Drought Conditions

Car washes across Tampa Bay keep running during the drought by reusing water. They save close to 100 gallons per vehicle when you stack them up against washing at home. The Southwest Florida Water Management District enacted modified phase III water shortage restrictions, which let businesses run as usual.

Woodies Wash Shack off Gandy Boulevard washes between 11,000 and 12,000 cars on a typical Tuesday. Their three-step recycling setup cuts water use from 120 gallons down to about 20 gallons per vehicle.

"When you wash your car at home, you're typically using about 120 gallons per car. So when you come through Woodies, we have a three step process, and we recycle our water, so we're saving about 100 gallons per car," said Alyson Carswell, customer experience manager at Woodies Wash Shack, to Tampa Bay 28. "When you're washing 11,000 to 12,000 cars on an average Tuesday, that's a lot of water we're saving."

Two filtration stages clean the water before ultraviolet lights kill germs and bacteria. Then it cycles back through. Fresh water gets added only during the final rinse.

Rain hasn't helped much. The area sits more than a foot short on rainfall over the past year, and the 1-2 inches that fell recently barely made a dent.

"It's very likely that most of us will remain in some level of drought conditions through at least the start of the rainy season," said Greg Dee, meteorologist at Tampa Bay 28.

The rainy season kicks off mid to late May. Water restrictions now permit residents to wash cars at home once per week on the same day they water grass. Hoses must have shut-off nozzles.

The water district applies identical rules to all car washes under current restrictions, even those that don't recycle. "The current water restrictions are designed to allow businesses to continue their normal operations with as little disruption as possible," said the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Officials urge residents who want clean cars to pick facilities that recycle water. Customer Teagan Barnhill says this method saves money while protecting the water supply.