No permits, no construction, and no run off.

Hydro Engineering Incorporated has packaged its Hydropad above ground wash rack with water recycling and a pressure washer to provide an instant car wash.

The company claims this is a breakthrough in “green” water technology.

The car wash requires electric power and water for operation, and can be placed on any surface. It does not require a connection to a sewer. All the collected wash water is recycled through the “Hydrokleen” filtration system, where it is then processed back to the Hydroblaster pressure washer. One touted advantage of the car wash system is that it can be either permanent or allow for a mobile wash– it can be moved with no construction required.

Here is how the instant car wash system works:

The vehicle or equipment is driven up onto the wash rack. The recycled water is sent to a wash brush used for cleaning. A pressure washer connected to fresh water is used to rinse the recycled water from the car. This adds water to the systems that is lost in the wash process due to evaporation.

Water from washing applications cannot flow onto the ground, as this violates the Clean Water Act.

“Like many car dealers we found it hard to wash our cars and meet the rules imposed by the EPA’s Clean Water Act. Like any environmentally aware business in California we want to comply with every aspect of the EPA laws and searching an answer to our problem led us to Hydro,” says Jeff Hill, the parts and service director at Folsom Lake Toyota.

Hydro claims it only takes five minutes to wash a car completely with this system. The two swiveling booms hold the washing brush and rinsing gun hoses as in a self-serve car wash.