GULFPORT, MI--April 18, 2012: There may be no greater assault on the environment than that which is delivered by a commercial truck wash. Each day hundreds of truck washes across America, spew tens of thousands of gallons of toxic water into storm sewers, retention ponds, rivers, lakes and dwindling sources of fresh water.
In an age of wide-spread water shortages, water conservation and pollution control are growing concerns in cities across the country. Polluted by road grime, degreasers, road salts, detergents and any number of environmentally toxic chemicals, the waste water generated by truck washes has become a high priority target for new city ordinances and regulations.
This was a lesson quickly learned by Louis Normand, CEO of Pro Wash Systems, when he first looked into building a commercial truck wash. The current regulations he faced were substantial and the trend toward even greater regulation was growing. Future regulatory hurdle promised to be daunting and inhibitive to the task of building a truck wash.
But, instead of giving up on plans for a truck wash built on site with American Truck Group's large truck dealership, Normand embraced the challenge to build the ultimate green truck wash. One that not only cleans trucks but cleans the environment too.
The beginning concepts were simple. Don't use chemicals to clean trucks, recycle and conserve as much used water as possible and then capture any solid road toxins harvested in the truck wash process and rid the environment of them once and for all.
The result? Overwhelming city approval and sate-wide acclaim from the governor, clean water laboratories and the educational community. Simple concepts have turned into multiple patents pending and state-of-the-art technology. Pro-Wash Systems may be the cleanest greenest operating truck wash in the world.
The closed loop zero discharge filtration system works, first by utilizing steam to clean the trucks. Utilizing steam eliminates the need to use detergents and chemicals. No chemicals and detergents - no pollution to clean up after the fact. Then, in order to conserve water, when the steam condenses and rinses away road grime, it has to be reclaimed and filtered in order to be re-used over and over again in the wash process.
Finally, in an effort to potentially eliminate the need for any city water to be used for truck wash purposes, (especially in areas like California and Arizona where shortages are a growing concern) an alternative water source need be maintained. In the case of the Pro Wash Green Systems facility in Gulfport, a million gallon retention pond serves multiple purposes. It provides the means to harvest rainwater, it collects run-off from the 18 acre site and it serves as a potential main water supply for truck wash boilers that create the steam to wash the trucks.
Because of the multiple uses the water from the pond may have to serve, the water in the pond needs to be kept pristinely clean. Not the least of those uses is clean water for the boilers. Pumping polluted water into the boiler could clog pipes and valves, destroy the boilers and quickly wipe out profitability due to soaring maintenance costs.
Considering the horrible amount of pollution that is stripped from each truck by steam and the reclamation of the water used, a clean retention pond seems all but impossible. But, so efficient is the Pro Wash Green Systems Patent Pending filtration process, the retention pond not only supports life but creates life.
Shown here, the retention pond is teaming with exotic Koi fish that not only thrive in this waste water environment but they also spawn and reproduce. In this regard, the Pro Wash Truck Wash System has effectively taken pollutants out of the environment and disposed of them leaving behind nothing but clean water. In fact the waste water from this truck wash has been tested by NATIONAL TESTING LABORATORIES, LTD and has been determined to be drinkable.
Of even greater note, however, is this process of cleaning some of the dirtiest most polluted water imaginable, has been accomplished without the use of chemicals. This is evidenced by the fact that Koi fish feed on naturally occurring microscopic organisms. Without the presence of such, the reproductive process of the Koi fish is muted. However, American Truck Group's retention pond has 300 plus Koi that are actively breeding in a healthy eco-system.
Today, the retention pond of the Pro Wash Systems truck wash is teaming with life and serves as proof positive, a truck wash really can clean more than trucks. It truly can play a significant role in cleaning the environment.