The ICA and reality

[mac]

I received one of those puff pieces from the ICA about being freaking green and conserving water. Here's a quote:


Solutions for onsite wastewater treatment
Civil Engineering News Share
Low-pressure distribution (LPD) systems are an emerging alternative to the conventional septic tank systems that are commonly used at locations outside of municipal sewer service areas. ARRO engineers have done extensive work with LPD systems in Maryland, which has been progressive in the use of LPD systems, and offer their experienced insights into the advantages and challenges of working with these non-conventional systems

So are they actually telling me that 1. You can have a wash hooked up to a septic tank. 2. You can use a low pressure distribution system instead of a septic. In Florida the county, state, and federal EPA people have been pretty adament that no discharges go directly to ground water. Was this email an early April fool's joke? Does the ICA really recommend this? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[cleaning up mud]

Ive always wanted to water our grass for our water from the pits, but never have, I know of several washes in Texas that go straight into a septic system then they irrigate with something like an arobic system.

 

[Whale of a Wash]

In most cities it is illegal to have a septic system, so that doesn't sound right. Was the article followed by a reclaim ad?

 

[Earl Weiss]

Every location is different but in some areas the use of "Gray Water" is a trend. Gray water is non sewage type waste water, which is everything from bath water and clothes washing water to hand washing water. Some areas will use gray water as supply for the toilets so it is used twice before it goes to sewer or septic.

 

[pitzerwm]

I brought this to the attention of Eric Wulf as he is in charge at the ICA and this was his response. He understands that it needed to be a little more clear.

The quote cited came from our industry newsletter, but the source was Civil Engineering News (click here).

No where does the article recommend this as a practice for car washes. It was included in the news section as an interesting innovation in the wastewater treatment industry.

Many different sources are included in our news and intentionally, for the benefits of our diverse membership, we don’t restrict ourselves to articles that are only about car washes.

 

[mac]

Bill, this begs another question. Just who else besides car wash operators does the International Carwash Association serve? More likely this was added by some office assistant who was just looking to fill up a newsletter. Just thought it strange the ICA would recommend something that would get most operators fined.

 

[rph9168]

Bucklin Smith, the firm that runs the ICA, represents many associations and in some cases shares information among their clients. Sometimes that is good and in some cases not so good.