Monday, January 15, 2007 - 06:01 pm, by: Robert Carlyon(Bob)
I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with Waterless Car Washes?
There was an article on TV recently about it I notice Meguiars make one (approx $35), but I have no idea how many washes you get per kit or if they are any good. With water restrictions set to get even more restrictive, I thought it might be timely to look into it.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 04:48 pm, by: Brenton Trafford(Traff)
Rob,
Good on you for being water conscious!! We had a couple of guys here yesterday cleaning the work van and the boss' car using the Meguiars waterless stuff. From what I saw it does a very good job and helps protect the paint etc. I am looking into it myself, being the water warrior that I am now (for those that don't know I sell waterless urinals - http://www.desert.com.au - hence the water warrior).
Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 10:35 pm, by: Tref Abbott(Tref)
There was something with the same name available in the UK about ten years ago. Back then it was a sort of waxy substance that you applied once and then when your car got dirty, all you did was give it a quick wipe over with a dry rag or slightly wet rag if there was bird crap, etc on the paintwork. I got talked into having it done on my BMW which had fantastic paintwork and I'll admit I was skeptical but in the end I was amazed that it did what it was supposed to do. Over there it wasn't to save water (Derr-UK equals rain)but more for lazy whatsits like...like..well, like me.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 01:39 pm, by: Brenton Trafford(Traff)
Tref, interestingly the UK has massive water shortages. Granted they do get a lot of rain but they have very poor/limited storage ability. A lot of Europe is like this and many european countries have been using recycled water for over 15 years (that's right folks, drinking treated sewerage water!). Amazingly Australia is still resisting this even though recycled water would only contribute to 3% of drinking/tap water. Crazy to not be doing it in this drought. Slight off topic rant there, but I think the Meguires waterless one works a bit differently to the one your talking of.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 - 11:22 pm, by: Greg Nikitiuk(Jestr)
Drinking recycled toilet water? Look up pathogens and it will give you an idea what could happen to you after pouring them down your throat on the daily basis. It won't happen after 1 drink but expose your organism to it for number of years and anything is possible.
Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 09:05 am, by: Tref Abbott(Tref)
I was sort of joking about the UK having too much rain, but regarding the recycled water over there. I can tell you from experience that the water tastes like crap but that's due to the flouride shoved in (which, apparently is a by-product of alluminium and does you more harm than losing ALL your teeth)but I know that over there women are becoming incresingly infertile due to the recycled water NOT getting rid of the stuff they put in the birth control 'pill'. Apparently the filtration process doesn't do it's job. Also men are starting to grow breasts (just had a look at myself but unfortunately so far I haven't been affected)and fish are changing sex.All due to what's in that pill. Cars look shiney though.
Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 10:16 am, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
Fluoride is added to harden teeth. It's also done over much of Australia. The tiny quantities added have no affect on general health. If aluminium is present it would be from the alum added as a flocculent (to take out solids).
IMHO opinion there is no need for drinking water to be recycled. However we need a duplicated reticulation system to supply recycled water for non-drinking purposes- it is fine for many uses and in fact it seems stupid to supply potable water to industry.
Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 11:19 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
Sometimes, just sometimes, its good to be a Kiwi. Mind you Auckland gets 40% of its drinking water from the Waikato, which is full of farm run off. Still, I'm a Westie, so I get relatively pure water from the Waitakere ranges at home, and avoid drinking water when in other parts of Auckland.
Dan McColl Goo Roo Victoria Active V8 and a Factory Manual xf.
Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 06:00 pm, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
We're on tank water too, off an iron roof. Asbestos is fine in water- it's a danger when ingested into the lungs from cutting and grinding it. Mind you I'd rather it was filtered (as ours is).
My wife is keen on NZ for the water, amongst other things. Plenty of it and nice. We were amazed at the showers in NZ after the blasted water-saver heads common in Au- more like Karchers!
Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 08:21 pm, by: Robert Carlyon(Bob)
Thanks for the comments/information. I haven't added any more as I had lost my Internet connection until now.
I think I will have a closer look at the Meguiars on the weekend (although its supposed to be wet in Adelaide this weekend )and I can let everyone know what I reckon.
Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 08:53 pm, by: Tref Abbott(Tref)
Sorry Mike, I'm no expert (and am writing this from memory) but there have been hundreds of reports that flouride very much DOES do damage to people all over the world. Just do a search on it on your computer and you'll see. Again from memory, I'm sure it IS a by-product of Aluminium. Iether way it tastes like crap. But at the end of the day, here in Oz it won't be long before we don't have the luxury of 'not wanting' recycled water. It's coming whether we like it or not. All we can do is push to ensure it's to the highest quality of filtration. Just my founrpenneth.
Thursday, January 18, 2007 - 09:29 pm, by: Nichola Castagna(Nawtee)
From what I understand from my bro who worked for State Water is that the recycled water is actually much better than the water we get out of the taps at the moment due to the rigorous treatment process it has to go through before it comes out the other end. And the only difference being is it actually lacks Fluoride compared to tap water. So I don't know, but we aren't going to have a choice soon at the rate we are going. We're either going to have to like it or lump it.....
Friday, January 19, 2007 - 10:54 am, by: Ben Lipman(Ben12a)
Moving down from Darwin it was hard to understand what all the water-whinging was about. Now I know. Just a few km down the New England Hwy they are on level 4 water restrictions and expect to run out of water in the dams/catchment area by winter. RUN OUT! Holy sh!t now thats gotta hit home- we are in real trouble.
I watched an SBS program a few years ago predicting the then far fetched idea that Australia's next major conflict would be over water. The program even went as far as expecting civil disturbance as states/councils/individuals fight over water access. Maybe the apocalypse won't start with a nuke after all.
Meguiars waterless hey? might have to get hold of some and give it a try. Do my bit and have a nice clean car. Do they make a waterless lawn maintenance kit?
Friday, January 19, 2007 - 01:48 pm, by: Brenton Trafford(Traff)
Ben,
The idea of having a major conflict over water isn't as far fetched as many think. The 'corporatization' of water is already happening on a grand scale across the world (Coke being a major factor, along with some large European conglomerates). It is a shrinking resource yet fundamental to all life on this planet. Fighting wars to get more of it is highly probable.
Also, Level 4 restrictions are in place in a number of areas across the country, mainly in NSW, SE Qld and Vic. SA is on Level 3 and looking at going to Level 4 by March/April. Some country towns are already having to truck water in as their reserves are empty. The Government is not doing anywhere near enough to plan for what will be an ongoing drought, in QLD they've already admitted they have no contingency plans in place for when (not if) the water runs out.
Sorry all, I work in the Water industry so this is a bit of a 'soap box' issue for me. Here endeth the vent.
PS - Clay, it's pouring with rain now, run out with a good microfibre cloth and wipe the car down!! LOL
Friday, January 19, 2007 - 04:03 pm, by: Shane McInnes(Soarin_tt)
Yeah your right Treff, Fluoride is bad for you, Depending on what type of fluoride and how much is in the water etc.
You notice in toothpaste there isnt much at all in there but it does help your teeth. From what i understand?
There was a discussion a while back in saying that in todays water there isnt as much fluoride as there used to be and that is also one of the reasons why kids have so many holes in there teeth at such young ages, besides all the Coke and sugary drinks that they drink these days.
Remember this was just a discussion no actual tests or anything have been done to proove it, that i know off.
Back on topic. If anyone actually trys this Meguiars product id be keen on the results. As i wouldnt mind giving it ago. But i just got a new paint job and dont wanna scrath it. So i dont wanna be the 1st to try it lol.
Friday, January 19, 2007 - 04:31 pm, by: Clayton Webb(Clackers)
Brenton Trafford wrote on Friday, January 19, 2007 - 01:48 pm:
PS - Clay, it's pouring with rain now, run out with a good microfibre cloth and wipe the car down!! LOL
Think I'll need a few of them! It's just had a wax so the water is pretty much jumping strait off the paint. I love it!
PS Amanda just recently washed her car using the governments bucket method, What a joke! She used probably 3 times more water than using a trigger hose. Pay us what these shiny ass' are getting and I bet we could come up with some better solutions!
Friday, January 19, 2007 - 04:44 pm, by: Mike Triggs(Mikeandimah)
Water conflicts are entirely possible in the years to come. There are already issues between Ethiopia and Egypt (the latter threatening to bomb any dam on the Nile headwaters) and Turkey and Syria with Iraq over the former's dam program on the headwaters of the Eurphrates.
Friday, January 19, 2007 - 10:10 pm, by: Byron Clarke(Byron)
Why doesn't the government focus on a big plane with a giant icecream scoop on it that can move clouds? Obviously you would need an unbelievable amount of power but it can't be that hard to whack some 1jz's on a plane?
Friday, January 19, 2007 - 10:50 pm, by: Aaron Mead(Aaron)
hehe, they just got 600mm of rain down the road over two days! The todd river is flowing for the first time in a while. I also find it funny that while all of ballarat stops showering (jk), McCain factory continues to use 30% of the towns supply
Friday, January 19, 2007 - 11:59 pm, by: Michael Howatt(Howatt)
Robert Carlyon wrote on Monday, January 15, 2007 - 06:01 pm:
Gentlemen, can we please try and address the original question at hand, please?. If you want to discuss water quality etc., please do so in another area of this Forum.