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New survey to open motorists' eyes to environmental effects of hand washing cars

By / 14 years ago / Latest News / No Comments

According to the research released by Total UK and supported by TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk, over half (51%) of British motorists regularly hand wash their cars in the mistaken belief that this has the least impact on the environment compared to regulated car washes.
 
Whilst nearly three quarters (74%) of Brits understand that their individual actions have an effect on the environment, they seem to be unaware that washing a car on streets and driveways causes dirty water to run into the nearest rivers and streams, where it affects water quality and harms wildlife. If half of the 43 million British motorists decided to hand wash their car, 14 billion litres of untreated water would flow into local waterways.
 
The study also indentifies a knowledge gap among British motorists when it comes to estimating the amount of water used to wash a car, but it seems men are much less realistic than women. Over 16.5 million (71%) male drivers believe hand washing uses less than 50 litres of water, compared to just 12.7 (61%) million female drivers. In truth, hand washing uses 650 litres when using a hose pipe – six and a half times higher than a roll over car wash.
 
Robert Doyle, car wash manager, Total UK Ltd, commented: 'The gap between motorists’ perception and reality when it comes to washing their cars is a real eye opener and hopefully this study will encourage people to reconsider how they keep their cars clean.'

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