New to Calgary - question about car washing in your driveway

[TimG]

I moved here in the middle of winter so i haven't really had a chance to see what my neighbours do.

Is there a bylaw or anything against washing your car in your driveway? something about the soap getting into the storm sewers? A guy at work says that he washes his car all the time in his driveway but doesn't use any soap - just plain water

[camby]

Anything that goes down the storm sewers goes into the river.

[TimG]

sooooo yes? no?

i also use biodegradable soap.

There's probably more oil and crap that gets washed off of the streets and goes into the river than from when i wash my car :p

[Hash_man]

There is a bylaw against it, but I'll be the first to say I still do it occasionaly.

[nismodrifter]

No.

You're not supposed to but nobody really gives a shit. I've never heard of anyone getting owned by by-law cops or anything. I wash the whip like twice a week (minimum 1 time/week) during the summer and have never had a complaint...ever (and this includes like helping my dad wash his car when I was a kid, so basically in the last 15 years...nothing.)

[l8braker]

The guy across the street from me is a bylaw officer (oldschool guy) and he washes/waxes his cars all the time in the driveway with soap. I do it as well and he's seen me and comes over to BS about cars all the time.

[Factor]

i recently moved to edmonton and i have done it a few times, my excuse is i just moved here.. always works. although i have never been questioned about washing my car.. so i donno

[3G]

My neighbour got in some deep shit for washing his car in his back alley but thats cuz we have an asshole on the block who likes to call the 5-0 for anything

[gp36912]

ya get to know your neighbours because the only way they can do anything is if a neighbour phones it in.

i wash my car about once a week, so aobut 4 times a month the car gets washed during the summer. every other week i wash it with soap.

[arian_ma]

Originally posted by l8braker
The guy across the street from me is a bylaw officer (oldschool guy) and he washes/waxes his cars all the time in the driveway with soap. I do it as well and he's seen me and comes over to BS about cars all the time.

This guy came in to my work the other day bitching abouthow he got a $150 ticket for washing his car on the driveway because his neighbours called the cops.
I'd fucking put a brick through their window if my neighbours did that.

[googe]

just do it. if neighbors become a problem, ask GTS jeff about his "salt trick"

[snade831]

i do it...

[bspot]

Yay lets all dump poison in the river and then throw bricks through our neighbours' windshields

[DeeK]

Originally posted by bspot
Yay lets all dump poison in the river and then throw bricks through our neighbours' windshields

You're an idiot.


They have Soap made for home use/driveway use, whatever you want to call it... It's 100% environmentally safe.

And the bricks was obviously a joke..

Why is there always some retard that has to take everything out of context?

[TimG]

NDP?

There's more crap that gets washed into the river from all of the dog crap in my neighbourhood than what goes in when i wash my car with biodegradable soap.

[Inzane]

Originally posted by Factor
i recently moved to edmonton and i have done it a few times, my excuse is i just moved here.. always works. although i have never been questioned about washing my car.. so i donno

Edmonton does not have that same bylaw restriction on driveway car washing, AFAIK.

Its the way Calgary's storm sewer system is managed that is the problem. Plus Calgary has a dryer climate so there might be water conservation motivations partly behind the bylaw as well, but I'm only guessing on that part.

[Inzane]

Originally posted by DeeK
They have Soap made for home use/driveway use, whatever you want to call it... It's 100% environmentally safe.

Unfortunately there's no guaruntee that many of the BEST car wash soaps we like to use are [safe].

Among my favorites are Meguiar's NXT Tech Wash, Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo, and P21S. I don't recall reading anything on those specific car wash soaps that say they ARE biodegradable and 100% environmentally friendly. I kinda doubt they are given the synthetic polymer content in some of them...

In the meantime I'll just be thankful I don't live in Calgary.

[modded46]

I didn't pay 250,000+ for a house to not be able to wash my f*cking car in my driveway.. Give me a break, time to get out of the dark ages.

Where do you think the water from the carwashes around the city go?? You think it goes into a "CAR WASH ONLY" sewer and goes to the United States or something?

Nieve people.

[Dren]

my neighbor actually came to me one day saying its a bylaw. he rather get in the car...wait in line at co-op at pay like 9 bucks to wash his car..than do some work himself.

[Inzane]

Originally posted by modded46
I didn't pay 250,000+ for a house to not be able to wash my f*cking car in my driveway.. Give me a break, time to get out of the dark ages.

Where do you think the water from the carwashes around the city go?? You think it goes into a "CAR WASH ONLY" sewer and goes to the United States or something?

Nieve people.

I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Your bylaw in Calgary exists, whether you like it or not.

The domestic septic sewer and the storm water sewer are two completely separate systems. The domestic system gets "treated". The storm water system does not. You cannot, by law, dump any chemicals into the storm water system.


In Edmonton, I wash cars in my driveway regularly and AFAIK we don't have that same bylaw. But when I'm finished I always haul my buckets inside and dump them down the toilet, NOT down the street sewer. I'm not sure if Edmonton's storm sewer system gets treated or not, but its no skin off my back to take that extra precaution anyway.


As far as the "carwash" places go that you mention, they filter and recycle water, so the same rules might not apply to them.


I'm sure many Calgarians do go ahead and wash as per normal in their driveway despite the bylaw, but they do so at the risk of a fine.