Businesses Fear Further Water Restrictions: MyFoxHOUSTON.com
HOUSTON - Houston is in Stage 2 water restrictions, limiting the hours and days on which residents can irrigate their lawns.
But if the water shortage gets worse, some local businesses are worried about being shut down.
Under Houston city ordinance, during Stage 2 restrictions, companies that use water for their “primary business practices” are exempt from prosecution. That would include car washes and pressure washers.
But that protection disappears if we enter Stage 3 water restrictions, even though many such businesses claim to be more efficient than a homeowner trying to accomplish the same task.
Don Palmour owns Clean Car Turnpike in northwest Houston.
His car wash uses about 80-gallons of water per car. But most of that water is recycled onsite, he says. Only about 10 gallons of fresh water is required, each time.
And Palmour says, for economic and environmental reasons, water recycling is becoming the industry standard.
“I would guess that in car washes like this,” Palmour estimates, “well over 50-percent would be recycling their water.”
Another local company that puts its wastewater to good use is commercial pressure washer Environmental Magic.
“We recover, recycle and reuse the water during our process,” says CEO Patrick Kramer. “So we actually use a lot less water than a regular pressure washer, say, that people go buy at Home Depot.”
Kramer doesn’t like for his company to be lumped in with other pressure washing outfits that don’t recycle water.
But when water is scarce, any company that uses it conspicuously is vulnerable.
Houston’s Public Works department was not willing to discuss what might happen under Stage 3 or Stage 4 water restrictions.
But FOX 26 Legal Analyst Chris Tritico analyzed the city’s water shortage ordinance at our request.
“Once we hit Stage 3,” says Tritico, “the way I read this ordinance, it's going to be unlawful to run a car wash, to run a window washing business, to run a building-washing or sidewalk-washing business. Because you're not allowed to use that water.”
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