An unpleasant odor, cloudy water and residu in the system are alarm signals for the water quality in a car wash. According to the German Sonax product manager Oliver Bischof, the cause of water problems is often found the ventilation systems or in the mix of detergents. 

An unpleasant odor is one of the first signs that the water quality is not good. Other signs include cloudy water and residu in the wash system. If the detergent and the walls in the car was have a yellowish film, you know you have a problem.

It is precisely when a vehicle is drying that the water quality becomes visible. Dirty water dries more poorly. The drying systems are not set for dirty water and te results will fall back. Traces of water remain on the vehicle, resulting in unhappy customers.

Water balance

“Where there is water, there is also life”, is how Dominic Bischof sums it up. He is a product manager for the car wash sector at Sonax. “Water contains micro-organisms that feed on the components in the water. If there is too much food for them, they multiply too quickly and the water balance is disturbed. This is especially important in hard-to-reach parts of the car wash or in pipes. There, these microorganisms find the optimal conditions to multiply exponentially ”.

As a supplier of chemicals for the car wash, Sonax has built up special expertise in this area. They have repeatedly seen that certain circumstances always lead to bad water conditions.

“The first step is always to look at the car wash ventilation system. If the setting here is not optimal, there can be permanent consequences for the water quality. The second look then goes to chemistry. It all depends on the correct settings and coordination of all detergents used to achieve the best possible result. ”

Do not use mixtures

Some car wash entrepreneurs make their own chemical choices. For example, detergents from different manufacturers are used in different parts of the system. Bischof does not recommend this. “The chemistry has been developed in such a way that as a total concept it delivers the results promised by the manufacturer. Mixtures can lead to worse results.”

He advises his customers against this route for a very practical reason: if there are problems with the washing quality, the cause cannot be clearly identified. The manufacturers of the washing chemicals used will locate the cause in the other product. Improvement is then more
difficult to achieve.