Cleaner Times Article

[newlook]

April's edition of Cleaner Times drought article is attached. It is a good read and I personally feel that is was well written and fair.

Kudos go out to everyone in the industry for bringing the drought situation to the forefront.

Relief for Washers www.reliefforwashers.com will continue to keep this topic alive and fresh as we feel that water conditions or lack there of will be a common place for some states. I suspect and believe that Celeste over at PWNC will do the same.

Again, my personal thanks to all in the industry that took notice of this situation. I am not only speaking about the RFW initiative but also PWNC. Even though there have been some "sticky" situations down this road I am certainly gratified that at the end ~ the industry took note of the drought, responded and benefited - for me that is one step in the right direction.

[PWNC]

The staff at the Cleaner Times was great to work with! We feel very honored to have had as much attention to our situation here as we did. Many of us are taking the opportunity to use the article to show some of the "non-believers" here that there is an issue that has gleaned national attention in our industry. There are still many that are only focusing on the negatives right now as opposed to helping to educate the customers here....Contradictory information published serves only to muddy the little water we have.

[Beth n Rod]

What a great article!
Beth

[PressurePros]

Great article.. very well written. Hats off to you Carlos for calling in the Cleaner Times and helping to bring the issue to the forefront of a national audience.

[Russ Spence]

good article but I saw what I felt I would , we are selling equipment again instead of fixing the problem

How in Gods name do you suggest that this is the alternative ? waste water reclaim , I knew it from the start , lets see do you go ahead and call the D.O.T. and let them know that in addition to all the equipment you are going to trick non knowing contractors into buying that they will also be needing hazerdous waste disposal areas and license and insurance to carry it as well as new tanks for recovery and new heavier trucks to handle the added weight ?

Well blow me down that helps the already in need washers , why dont we buy them moving vans and get them to help each other move out because they have to buy all this extra (not needed) equipment and cant pay their already past due bills !

[Beth n Rod]

Originally Posted by PressurePros

Great article.. very well written. Hats off to you Carlos for calling in the Cleaner Times and helping to bring the issue to the forefront of a national audience.

Hats off to ALL who participated. And most especially hats off to Cleaner Times for juggling their calendar to make it work.

Beth

[Russ Spence]

Better yet lets boycot any vendor who openly supports taking the last dollar you have and see how much they will do to help then !

If the vendor were truely on our side they would fight against the ban instead of selling NEW equipment , wow talk about taking advantage of you in your time of need

[Russ Spence]

here is the beef guys and I will put it real simple to the ones that are in question in drought areas

As long as the water you use does not run off site you are in colpliance with the CWA (clean water act) or another way of putting it is that as long as it is diverted from or away from a storm drain and into a dry well on the property you are still in compliance, no need for more equipment you need to educate those in your area so they WILL understand

Prokleen Power Wash is working NEXT week in Atlanta Georgia at 2 shopping centers because we educated those in the area in question , we are working there because it was not explained by 11 other contractors , they are under drought restriction but we sold it as a health hazard not to clean as opposed to leaving it as is. Do your homework you will survive and work , there is no need for anyone to speak for you do it for yourself !

[Christopher]

I agree with Russ about this, you do not need a lot of stuff to purchase.I had talked to a few guys about this after the Alabama Round Table.If you haul hazardous waste, you are opening up a can of worms that you really don't want to open and most of you don't have a clue unless you have a CDL license and have hauled hazardous waste before.This is not a simple issue of putting dirty water in a tank and driving it to a car wash and emptying it, it is as serious as it gets. Here at a recovery facility, the minimum charge for hazardous waste, dirty water, gray water, etc.... is $.50 per pound, not gallon but pound and they do have truck scales.If you haul hazardous waste (dirty water) you will need the following in order to not get tickets, get your rig impounded and face possible jail time, here in Texas at least but most states DOT (Department Of Transportation) regulations are the same but vary a little from state to state.1. Any tank that has hazardous waste must be labeled and have placards on the vehicle on all 4 sides if the weight of one chemical exceeds 1000 pounds. For an example, water weighs 8.33 pounds so if it was as heavy as water, you could only haul 119 gallons of it or (2) 55 gallon drums of that chemical before you would need: Placards on all 4 sides of the trailer or truck that is hauling the chemical and most important, a CDL for the hazardous chemical because the vehicle is hauling hazardous chemicals and is placarded.2. You must have proper paperwork for hauling the hazardous waste meaning a bill of lading, manifest or other proper shipping papers which would include the signatures of the shipper (where the chemical came from) and who is hauling it and where it is delivered to and the records must be kept for a number of years. I don't know about you but not too many people will want to sign to have that stuff hauled away as they could be potentially liable if something went wrong.You must have a MSDS for the chemical, which would involve a very accurate description of what is in that tank, not a guess but exactly what is in there. You can get fined for hauling chemicals without MSDS sheets.If you don't have an MSDS for that chemical, I would not haul it.3. For a DOT inspection, you will have all paperwork within arm's reach for the state trooper to look at and you will do a walk-around inspection of the vehicle and explain what the equipment is along with all chemicals that are in the truck and trailer along with the proper shipping papers, MSDS and explanation of where you came from and where you are taking the chemicals to.If there was an accident and there was dirty water (hazardous waste) on the ground and there was no MSDS, you are now having a life-altering experience because the state trooper or local police will call out the HAZMAT team to deal with the mess. Think of around $1000 per hour to clean up the unknown chemical (since you do not have a MSDS and cannot prove it is just dirty water, especially if you are hurt or unconscious and then if it is all over the truck or trailer, they will have to haul it away to be cleaned (very expensive) and maybe deem for it to be PROPERLY DISPOSED OF, in other words, you lost your rig but that is at their discretion, not yours.There is more to this but this gives you an idea of how serious this can get and worse like driving a placarded truck or trailer without a CDL, now you are driving a vehicle without a license and now breaking a federal law. It can get a lot worse.Just don't take my word for it, look up this online or ask a state trooper, they know the laws better than the local police.I am not trying to come off as an a** here but when someone tells you you need to haul off the dirty water, they just wiped their hands clean and stuck you with a big problem that most of you don't even have a clue of what could happen if you ever get stopped or in an accident.There are many different ways to do the reclaim and you do not need to go out and spend $10,000, $20,000 or more for something that is not needed. There are many ways to do this reclaim, just ask around or go to the Round Tables that are being in places like Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, etc... Ron Musgraves is doing an excellent job of helping educate everyone and there is even more that a lot of manufacturers don't want you to know about but you will not know unless you hear from people that know and have been around for a while.I am going to copy this post and put it on the boards so nothing is changed, deleted or manipulated in any way. If you are not sure if it is all here from what I typed, just check the other boards and read and compare.Sometimes people are being manipulated by suppliers, manufacturers, etc... to help get the word out about their equipment to help them sell high-dollar stuff that most of us don't need so they will hold back the truth or not tell you what you really need to know.Sorry this is so long but I am passionate about people being ripped off for stuff that they don't need.Have a nice day!

[Christopher]

I just edited that post and put in a lot of spaces, I do not know what happened. I had paragraphs and a lot of gaps in there. Maybe I need to have someone tell me how to change it around? O Well, happy reading.

[Doug Dahlke]

This whole issue is very complicated. I am looking forward to what the UaMCC does with it. As far as properties having dry wells I am sure many do but unless I went to the building department and saw the plans or talked to an engineer involved with maintenance of the facilty I would not take for granted they are there. Most properties here, including newly built, have detention ponds and they do connect to the storm water system.

With the water situation here in the south I see nothing wrong with talking about equipment that recycles. I don't sell equipment but if I can use 50% or less water on a job because I recylce isn't that good for the water supply? The big problem I see is that most counties don't want to talk to you about dumping that recylced water back to sanitary sewer on site when the work is done. Once again, if I put water back into the sytem to be cleaned and reused isn't that good for the drought situation.

From what I have been told the UaMCC will talk directly to people with the EPD to see what contractors have to do to comply. That is the response I am waiting to hear.

[CarolinaProWash]

Cleaning and reusing water is where it gets a little complicated. Again, I am going to squawk the "proper education" word. There are so many ways to be in compliance which is not even the same thing as conserving.

Yes Doug, if it is feasible to use less water or to be able to affordably and properly reuse the same water, it is a conservation method that should be employed if it fits your business. There are just rules that apply and that is what we should all learn correctly and calmly, not all willy nilly.

[Doug Dahlke]

Originally Posted by CPW

There are just rules that apply and that is what we should all learn correctly and calmly, not all willy nilly.

Exactly. That is why I think what you are doing and what UaMCC is doing is great. These issues need to be taken to local EPD by a group representing contractors and worked out. There is just too much confusion between contractors, local authorities, etc. I hate getting into threads like this and seeing people who should be on the same team bashing each other. We all have opinions but we can still respect each other and agree to disagree on some issues.

The drought situation here is pushing these issues to the forefront. This industry has a chance to change the publics perception of it for the better. Lets not watse it.

[Russ Spence]

The UaMCC is not anything at this point are they ? I was under the asumption that the board had be relieved and that the direction of the org was yet to be determined ? I am unsure so someone fill me in as well

[Russ Spence]

clearing the air ......... The reason I have found that most of who I have talked to are worried about is this ...... We have all seen the direction of the PWNA , And the zero direction of the UaMCC , SO what should we expect here , we have only seen the same behind the scenes stuff all over again , I refuse to elaborate , just do a search on the last time this came up and see what all came out that no one knew about , heck even poor ole Ken Fenner didnt have a clue what was going on and he is one of the biggest , most open supporters , I would question the motives of anyone (not just because its Carlos) Carlos in my oponion is like the New Cujo , it is completely up to him what he does from here , is Carlos getting a fair shake ? No , probably not but he put him self under the glass , It will be great if all that is promised comes to light , I just dont see it working and as for now and more that likely in the future will not support it .
Sorry but we have a black eye already and I dont intend to wear another !

I am working on our region with some other careing contractors , we are educating and raising the standards in Alabama , simply raise the standards through education in local networks (not orgs) if you are scared of loosing business this way you are probably not doing your job anyway

I want to teach , even the hacks how to do a better job , why so we can all raise our worth in the industry , the more professional and educated we are the better we look and come accross to the customer anyway , no more having to over come objections because the last 4 guys did a **** poor job

I hope this means something to someone