State Considering Car Washing Ban

SPOKANE — Washington State is looking into the possible benefits of imposing a ban on washing your car in your driveway.

According to the state Department of Ecology, because all the chemicals, oil, dirt and soap that was on your car was getting flushed down into the state’s waterways and eventually back to people’s drinking water.

The state is looking for cities and counties to reduce what flows into their storm drains in an effort to keep the state’s waterways clean and right now Spokane is on a five-year plan to meet certain storm water regulations.

One way of doing that is reducing certain types of run off like the soapy residue that comes from washing your car at your home.

Right now in the city of Spokane there is a regulation that only storm water should flow into the storm drains, but the regulation is not backed up by any enforcement. The city is working to figure out just how they’re going to enforce the new regulations.

City officials anticipate releasing more information on storm water run off enforcement within the next year or so.