Planet 9

**gfspencer** · #21 09-08-2007, 05:10 PM

Originally Posted by winchester21

A friend called me this morning. He found a loophole. Anyone who has a privately owned water well is exempt from the restriction. This may be a solution.

If you have well water you can use it for anything . . . watering your lawn . . . filling your pool . . . washing your car. Trouble is that a well in my neighborhood goes for about $6,000 by the time you have it drilled (they charge by the foot and I have a long way to go to hit water), buy a pump, build a little house for the pump and have the pump wired.

So far I have managed to keep both of the cars and the bikes clean with Griot's spray on stuff. In fact they look pretty good.

Now the trouble comes next week when it rains enough to mess up the cars but not enough to get us off water restriction.

I wish they would just tell me that I have X gallons of water that I can use and let me use them the way that I want to use them.

FirstCayman · #22 09-08-2007, 05:14 PM

Looks like you'll have to wash it in the rain.....

**gfspencer** · #23 09-08-2007, 06:41 PM

Originally Posted by FirstCayman

Looks like you'll have to wash it in the rain.....

I've done that before.

It actually works pretty good.

**Santa Fe** · #24 09-08-2007, 07:09 PM

A well here costs $25,000 and has to go to 800'. But I don't have restrictions out here in the country. Yet....

Phil 1 · #25 09-08-2007, 07:26 PM

Leave it dirty & rev the pi$$ out of it. You will feel better. Clean cars are overrated.

**geologist** · #26 09-08-2007, 10:44 PM

This whole concept is so totally bogus. Pure political propaganda. Agriculture uses SO MUCH WATER compared to what residents use...ths is the same as when cities have a budget problem & the first thing they do is close libraries & cut the science & art programs out of public schools...anyway, go to the city council meetings...start campaigning for opposition candidates. These residential conservation programs are just a drop in the bucket...designed to make people think they are doing a good deed...anyway. just use a California Duster everyday & some kind of quick detailer. F it. who needs water.

**gfspencer** · #27 09-09-2007, 05:47 AM

Originally Posted by Santa Fe

A well here costs $25,000.

$25,000!

FirstCayman · #28 09-09-2007, 07:26 AM

Originally Posted by gfspencer

I've done that before.

It actually works pretty good.

LOL thank god. I thought I was the only nut......

wpmjr · #29 09-09-2007, 07:37 AM

Here we had the Sierra Club come schmooze our city council and get them to pump up our water rates to ridiculous levels- it is a progressive tax such as liberals are fond of- during a period of minor drought. "The sky was falling" was the public excuse for screwing us. Some rhetoric even lumped water in with non-renewable resources like oil. You can't destroy water unless you chemically separate the hydrogen and oxygen. It just evaporates and keeps coming back. The dinosaurs drank the same water I'm drinking now. Idiots. This caused me a couple of $240 water bills in the summer.

The next year we had extra rain and the cities were now complaining about their poor tax collections. Turns out the bulk of the city budget is financed by selling water. Two-faced scum bags.

Now that my morning rant is done; Put your car in your garage. Take a bowl with about a gallon of water in it. Dampen parts of a soft towel and go over you car with wet, then the dry parts of the towel. Re-dampen with clean water as needed. It is a spit bath, but is many times the best method to clean your car. The whole thing will be clean, there will be neglible water on the floor (just what you spill, not anything that rolls off the car), and you will have to pour out about half the dirty water.

**winchester21** · #30 09-09-2007, 07:38 AM

Had not thought about well water issues. My friend with a well has a black BMW so I would guess that the water is OK. We both finish washing/drying with Griots speed shine so that may eliminate the potential issue. Thanks for the tip.

FirstCayman · #31 09-09-2007, 07:53 AM

I feel bad. I just washed my truck tires. I wish I could send ya some water, but from the looks of the news it looks like plenty of water is on your way...

**Interpol** · #32 09-09-2007, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by winchester21

Had not thought about well water issues. My friend with a well has a black BMW so I would guess that the water is OK. We both finish washing/drying with Griots speed shine so that may eliminate the potential issue. Thanks for the tip.

To avoid issues with water spots/hard water, the key is to not let the car dry by itself. Keep the car wet if necessary until you are drying the entire car. Even then you may end up with water spots that are especially noticeable on the windows.

Speed Shine, Zaino Z-6, or other quick detailers will not remove etched water spots.

**gfspencer** · #33 09-09-2007, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by winchester21

Had not thought about well water issues. My friend with a well has a black BMW so I would guess that the water is OK. We both finish washing/drying with Griots speed shine so that may eliminate the potential issue. Thanks for the tip.

My next-door neighbor has a meteor gray Carrera. He uses well water to wash his car and has no problems.

I worked for four years as a plant manager for a textile chemical company (before textiles went down the tube) and I can say with relative assurance that the well water in this part of the country is just as good as or better than city water.

Years ago my grandfather collected rainwater in a 50-gallon barrel. I have seen a modern version of that system. (When the barrel is full a diverter sends the water down the drain.) I wouldn’t mind having that so that if it ever did rain I would have some water.

FirstCayman, I have actually washed a car while it was snowing.

**winchester21** · #34 09-09-2007, 05:11 PM

My first job out of the Air force was selling water wells and geothermal heat pumps. Water quality is almost never the same from one well to the next. I remember making more money after the initial sale on water softeners. Calcium and iron destroy bathroom fixtures and It stands to reason that they would trash a paint job as well.My detail job today with well water went off perfectly but I did not allow the CS to dry. I always mix the last bit of water on the car with Speed shine and then dry down with a dampened Griots large microfiber towel. Everybody has their tricks but this one seems to work for me. Interpol's warnings are quite valid and should be considered by anyone who plans to wash their car in well water. Also, many houses with water treatment systems are only hooked up to the kitchen and bathrooms- not to the outside hoses.

sjij · #35 09-09-2007, 06:51 PM

Ditto!....Ditto!

Hot Nikon · #36 09-09-2007, 07:09 PM

Unfortunately, where I live, my water is extremely hard. I hate the local car washes...so I get a 5 gallon bottle of water for $5.00 and it is just enough to wash a Cayman. I do the tires with a few wipes. Zaino wash, chamois, no muss, no fuss, no peeps in your way.
Could they bust you for that?

**AJK** · #37 09-10-2007, 04:11 PM

I don't understand. I haven't washed my good cars in years. A California Duster and Quick Detailer or Speed Shine have been all I've used. Last month one of my cars took Best of Show.

**Santa Fe** · #38 09-10-2007, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by AJK

I don't understand. I haven't washed my good cars in years. A California Duster and Quick Detailer or Speed Shine have been all I've used. Last month one of my cars took Best of Show.

I'll just hazard a guess that you are a city boy...

**m parey** · #39 09-10-2007, 08:26 PM

Originally Posted by gfspencer

$25,000!

I can confirm that, and may be a little on the low side. Taking my well from 320' down to 800-1000 to get rid of the calcium that destroys water heaters(every 5 years replaced), dishwashers, washing machines and all pipes!

**lexicon** · #40 09-11-2007, 08:47 AM

Or, just hear me out now, OR you can go a couple of months without washing the car. Wait, wait, wait, calm down now, take a deep breath, relax a bit. Your car will be ok if it goes a little while without a wash. I know, I know, it sounds crazy to everyone, but really it'll be O.K. Look at the bright side, the time you spent cleaning the car can now be used what it was made for, DRIVING!!!!!!