What uses more water, going to a carwash or using a hose??

Question

and i have one of those hoses with a handle you can save water with

Answer 1

It depends upon how water conscious you are during washing your car... It also depends upon the car wash to but i think that if you try hard you can use less water by using a hose

Answer 2

The hose.  Water at most carwashes is recycled.  Water from the hose at your house will flow down the driveway and into the street and down the drain, totally wasted.

Answer 3

Hose. Car wash has time limit.

Answer 4

deffinatly a carwash uses more, its way better to use your hose, plus you will save money on gas driving to the carwash and you will save water, and you'll save money paying for the carwash

Answer 5

No official data on this but I think using a hose uses less.  Only if you can stop the water when you don't need it tho but it sounds like you do have that.

Answer 6

Carwashes use around 30 gallons of High Pressured Water.

Comparied to a average 50 to 70 Gallons by hose.

Answer 7

Generally speaking the hose is going to use more water, even with the sprayer nozzle on the end.  

Self use carwashes are set up for quick and convient use.  Once people insert their quarters, they are quick about the job, before they have to plug more quarters into the machine.

Many of the drive thru carwashes recycle their water, so they are really efficient.

I currently live in the desert (moving back to the Pacific Northwest however).  When we wash vehicles at home, we park them on the lawn.  So any water we use gets a second (and more important) use by watering the lawn, trees, and shrubs.  We are in our 7th year of drought here.  Water conservation is taken serriously around here.

~Garnet

Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years

Answer 8

Using a hose!

Car washers recycle a fair portion of the water they use. Washing in the driveway tends to lead to a misuse of the flowing water. We have all been guilty of washing a great deal more that our car. We all do it. Give a man a fast running hose and he's off to second childhood!

We will put the hose down without shutting it off. We will take much longer than is strictly necessary because we're having too much fun.

Use the car wash!