Water / Sewer Spike! WOW!!!

[jasonHTCW]

So the following are my readings for the past few months

In gallons per month : usually water/sewer bill under $2000 a month.

Aug- 181000
Sept- 127000
Oct - 163000
Nov- 179000
Dec- 297000 (jumped to $3200) WOW!!!

Checked the water meter with all the water turned off in wash and it was not spinning. So nothing was registering. I turned off the reclaim about 6 weeks ago but was told this would only cost me about $300 a month. The reclaim was causing some water staining and streaking. Would rather have a clean car and no customer complaints. Has taken too long to get those 5 star ratings back from previous owner.

Has anyone else experienced such a jump in expenses turning off the reclaim?

 

[jfmoran]

Sounds like you got some bad advice. Where are you using reclaim in the wash process that it is causing staining and streaking? Whose reclaim system are you using?

 

[washnvac]

Water/sewer at $10.77/1000 gallons it not too bad. A properly working & maintained reclaim should yield results no different than virgin water. Like John asked, how and where was it streaking?

 

[jasonHTCW]

Sounds like you got some bad advice. Where are you using reclaim in the wash process that it is causing staining and streaking? Whose reclaim system are you using?

I believe the problem we have is when the wash was first built 20 years ago, the tire shine portion of the pit was not separated from the rest of the reclaim water. So this causes the water tanks to get so nasty and tacky with tire shine. We tried the reclaim for a while with our wheel blaster, omni side / overhead sprayers but it only saved us around $300 on the busiest months. I am ok with $2000 a month bill but the $3200 was extreme. I just checked the meter and we are back on pace with a $1900 bill. Time will tell. Yes I would like to get the reclaim back going but collection underground is an issues for sure.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Maybe you should think about removing the tire shine online and have a specific area that you have an attendant that can apply the tire shine by hand while the customer vacuums.
You would get a better job on the wheels and eliminate your problem.

 

[jasonHTCW]

Maybe you should think about removing the tire shine online and have a specific area that you have an attendant that can apply the tire shine by hand while the customer vacuums.
You would get a better job on the wheels and eliminate your problem.

Interesting. Might be an option but I would rather have it applied using wash functions but we will see. Other than that we are rocking down here in GA and looking forward to some good weather. Rain needs to go away.

 

[slash007]

Check to see if the reading was estimated or actual. I've had estimated readings one month followed by an actual reading the next month that was super high.

 

[Allan]

So the following are my readings for the past few months

In gallons per month : usually water/sewer bill under $2000 a month.

Aug- 181000
Sept- 127000
Oct - 163000
Nov- 179000
Dec- 297000 (jumped to $3200) WOW!!!

Checked the water meter with all the water turned off in wash and it was not spinning. So nothing was registering. I turned off the reclaim about 6 weeks ago but was told this would only cost me about $300 a month. The reclaim was causing some water staining and streaking. Would rather have a clean car and no customer complaints. Has taken too long to get those 5 star ratings back from previous owner.

Has anyone else experienced such a jump in expenses turning off the reclaim?

Your municipality may have added charges to your water cost or your meter may be the issue, sometimes cost increase may be added to your utility, you may not be aware of and implemented without knowing. Where are you located? We’ve had Carwash wash business recoup/save $7k to $14k from utility billing errors.

 

[Axxlrod]

Get rid of your tire shine. I did it several years ago. Best thing I ever did, as it was doing more harm than good. Biggest source of complaints. Haven't had any customers ask to replace it.

 

[Allan]

Check to see if the reading was estimated or actual. I've had estimated readings one month followed by an actual reading the next month that was super high.

I've heard of that before when it comes to reading your cost. What some utility providers also do is assess charges that were passed legislatively or done so by internal analysis. The business maybe unaware of these cost, but it usually flush into a tax or usage for water/sewage, electricity & trash service. Some of these cost you have been paying for years, but are entitled to getting refunded added cost that should not of been charged to your business. A little long to explain in just a post, but happy to explain offline.

 

[jasonHTCW]

Get rid of your tire shine. I did it several years ago. Best thing I ever did, as it was doing more harm than good. Biggest source of complaints. Haven't had any customers ask to replace it.

Are you applying by hand now? We have rolled out a full service option and could apply by hand but that could be 300-500 cars a day. Yikes!

 

[Axxlrod]

Yes. We towel dry at that particular site, and also apply tire dressing by hand for the customers that purchase it.

It only takes about 30 seconds extra to apply tire shine on each car. We have two employees towel drying, one on each side of the car. So each employee does two tires.

We have 500+ car days all the time. Not a problem.

 

[jasonHTCW]

I do try to keep only 3 employees at the wash at once. 1 for emissions, 1 manager and 1 prep. Might need to add an employee to the mix and remove the tire shine.