(5/3) The Silo Hill Car Wash recently
passed the 2-million-gallon mark in the amount
of water it has recycled.
The Silo Hill Car Wash opened in April 2005
and spent the first three months of business
filling its water tanks with fresh water.
Since then, the water has continued to wash
car after car as it is continually recycled
and has surpassed 2.1 million gallons.
“We recycle about 95 percent of the water,”
said owner Kirby Delauter. “All of the water
we use is recycle except for the rinse water.
That’s fresh. Our water bill is next to
nothing.”
The state-of-the-art system controls odor
in the used water by pumping a high level of
oxygen into the water to kill bacteria.
“We can kill the bacteria without any
chlorine or chemicals,” Delauter said.
The system also uses three sediment tanks
and two filters to remove sediment from the
used water.
“Once the water goes through the system,
it’s as clean as potable water, though it’s
not drinkable,” Delauter said.
Delauter decided to build the $850,000 car
wash to offset the $50-$100 a week he was
paying to have his trucks washed for his
business W.F. Delauter and Sons from Thurmont
to Emmitsburg. He had already built a similar
car wash in Thurmont.
“We saw so many people coming down from
Emmitsburg to wash their cars,” Delauter said.
“They were saying, ‘Why don’t you build one up
there?’”
He decided that was a good idea and also
invested the extra money for water recycling
and other technology. The wands in the bays
spray water at 1200 pounds per square inch,
which cuts down on the amount of water used by
20 percent. All of the soaps used are water
based and biodegradeable.
