What's new

dog wash and ice/water machine?

jack954

Active member
Joined
Jul 11, 2020
Messages
199
Reaction score
121
Points
43
i am considering adding these as i believe my location is good and have the room on my lot. my problem is that i have absolutely no idea what kind of money they could bring in and i’m not interested in what the salesman estimate. if anyone on here has either and would be willing to talk to me privately it would be greatly appreciated.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sjb

Greg_T

Active member
Joined
Aug 31, 2020
Messages
241
Reaction score
246
Points
43
Location
1 Licola Road, Heyfield, Victoria, Australia
Our dog wash is a good part of the business. Looking at our sales report for the last 90 days, the dog wash has revenue of 55% of our average carwash self service bay. And it is much less maintenance and much lower capital cost. Our particular design means that it only needs to be cleaned once a day, and still is very clean and presentable. We would strongly recommend based upon our experience. (For context, we are a 3 SS bay + dogwash in Heyfield, Victoria, Australia, rural town of about 1500-2000 people).

IMG_20190311_112030.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: sjb

Back 40

Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2011
Messages
35
Reaction score
1
Points
8
Location
Texas
We just installed an ice/water vending machine on Jan 26. Weather has been horrible for it since and we haven’t done much advertising but it’s used daily and I am watching the daily avg slowly and steadily increasing
 

sparkey

Active member
Joined
May 22, 2010
Messages
905
Reaction score
187
Points
43
Location
Ohio
I have a water vendor that does exceptionally well. Sometimes there is a line waiting to fill their jugs.
 

Toms PTcarwash

Active member
Joined
Sep 13, 2021
Messages
267
Reaction score
128
Points
43
Location
Landisville, Pennsylvania
I don't have either, but here is a beer distributor just up the road from my house that has two water dispensers. There are ALWAYS people filling water jugs, even when I drive by late at night.
 

Dan-Ark

Active member
Joined
Apr 22, 2018
Messages
261
Reaction score
45
Points
28
Location
Dover Arkansas
We have recieved notices about water quality issues from the water department serving one of our locations. It has always tasted bad, but never occured to me that a water machine at the wash might be in demand. Any reccommendations on brand? there is a huge Ice machine vendor in town, so I would probably lean toward water only.
 

sparkey

Active member
Joined
May 22, 2010
Messages
905
Reaction score
187
Points
43
Location
Ohio
We have recieved notices about water quality issues from the water department serving one of our locations. It has always tasted bad, but never occured to me that a water machine at the wash might be in demand. Any reccommendations on brand? there is a huge Ice machine vendor in town, so I would probably lean toward water only.
This is the water vendor I have. https://www.costereng.com/window-water-vending-units/
 

Greg_T

Active member
Joined
Aug 31, 2020
Messages
241
Reaction score
246
Points
43
Location
1 Licola Road, Heyfield, Victoria, Australia
Please excuse my ignorance, but water vending units aren't something that I'm familiar with in Australia. Are these used in some areas because the water available from the town main supply isn't suitable for drinking? Or is there some other reason why people are seeking to buy water?
 

MEP001

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2007
Messages
16,665
Reaction score
3,948
Points
113
Location
Texas
Around here, the water units are popular in areas where the municipal water is excessively hard or doesn't taste good. In Shiner Texas, for example, the water smells and tastes like rotten eggs.
 

coman93

New member
Joined
Jan 3, 2017
Messages
2
Reaction score
1
Points
3
Location
Birmingham, AL
I have ice/water vending machines at my locations. Two of the locations provide a small return, one location is a high revenue machine. Initial entry cost was high but after they are paid for, the revenue stream is nice. If I would recommend a company, I would have you look into Kooler Ice. Location will determine the amount of success of the machine.
 
Last edited:

Toms PTcarwash

Active member
Joined
Sep 13, 2021
Messages
267
Reaction score
128
Points
43
Location
Landisville, Pennsylvania
Please excuse my ignorance, but water vending units aren't something that I'm familiar with in Australia. Are these used in some areas because the water available from the town main supply isn't suitable for drinking? Or is there some other reason why people are seeking to buy water?
I of course can't speak for everyone, but where I live, all municipal water is safe for drinking. It seems many people (including my wife) think that if water doesn't come out of a plastic bottle it's not good to drink. I even have a seven stage RO system at home that feeds my refrigerators and ice makers always with less than 5ppm TDS and multiple carbon taste and oder filters on the outlet of the RO membranes, and my wife still buys bottled water!!! I have shown her tests of the bottled water versus our water and even my spot free water at the carwash, both have less TDS than the bottled water, to no avail. I still drink out of the garden hose if I am hot and working outside during the summer.

I guess your answer is many people in the US are spoiled and believe if it's not bottled, it not good.
 

Greg_T

Active member
Joined
Aug 31, 2020
Messages
241
Reaction score
246
Points
43
Location
1 Licola Road, Heyfield, Victoria, Australia
I of course can't speak for everyone, but where I live, all municipal water is safe for drinking. It seems many people (including my wife) think that if water doesn't come out of a plastic bottle it's not good to drink. I even have a seven stage RO system at home that feeds my refrigerators and ice makers always with less than 5ppm TDS and multiple carbon taste and oder filters on the outlet of the RO membranes, and my wife still buys bottled water!!! I have shown her tests of the bottled water versus our water and even my spot free water at the carwash, both have less TDS than the bottled water, to no avail. I still drink out of the garden hose if I am hot and working outside during the summer.

I guess your answer is many people in the US are spoiled and believe if it's not bottled, it not good.
Thanks for the background. I can't be sure, but it just doesn't seem like it would be a success here in Australia, at least not in our area.
 

sjb

Active member
Joined
Jul 7, 2011
Messages
169
Reaction score
174
Points
43
Location
Atlanta GA
God willing, and supply change SNAFU’s minimized, we should be operational with 2 new self service dog washes by 4/15/22
These units will be under a canopy in front of of an 8 bay SS in Atlanta… I’m getting kinda excited once I get past the infrastructure challenges!
 

Attachments

mjwalsh

6 bay SS w/laundromat
Joined
Sep 7, 2007
Messages
3,134
Reaction score
173
Points
63
Location
North Dakota
sjb ... stay positive!

Hopefully, your new adventure in Atlanta with the much milder weather than North Dakota where I am ... will work out. It appears like you went with all the latest bells & whistles ... including the PLC version. Also a bit more intricate than like low pressure selections in most self service car washes ... with individual pumps for each specific shampoo-liquid selection by the end customer. It looks like if you use other than their specific shampoos etc ... your warranty will be voided???

I remember back when ours was in the design- building phase ... how the local news media was trying to rush us a bit too much ... which we were wise to resist opening prematurely!

It sounds like your upcoming original opening will somewhat co-inside with our re-opening of our 10+ old PLC driven dog wash. Ours is definitely a bit more on the homemade-ish side. William Pitzer ... the founder of this Car Wash Forum ... when he visited Bismarck ... when it was pretty much brand new approximately 10 years ago ... can attest to.

We get a lot of compliments on how our tubs are big enough to turn larger dogs around while they are still in the tub & the fact that the end customer (back saving) can adjust the height a range of up to 16". Hopefully ... Evolution has thoroughly great internal programming instructions on the included PLC. That could make your operation possibly more versatile & less dependent on the specific PLC that Evolution chose to use.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sjb

jack954

Active member
Joined
Jul 11, 2020
Messages
199
Reaction score
121
Points
43
back40, how is the new ice/water machine doing as we are well into summer? also, which unit did you purchase?
 
Top