Plan mobile car-wash wastewater collection and disposal checks in Broward County

Broward County does not issue a license or permit for vehicle washing. That does not mean you can let wash water run off. The county prohibits discharging wash water to the ground, storm drains or any water body. Collected wash water must go to one of two places: the sanitary sewer, but only with the sewer utility's permission, or a licensed hauler who removes it. Plan every mobile job around that rule. Before you schedule work, decide which route you will use, get the approvals that route needs, and confirm your collection equipment can capture and move the water on the actual site.

Two terms come up throughout this guide. The sanitary sewer is the wastewater system that carries flow to a treatment plant. It is separate from storm drains, which usually carry runoff to waterways without treatment. A licensed hauler is a company authorized to collect and transport wastewater to a facility that will accept it.

What Broward County's guidance requires

• No county vehicle-washing license or permit is issued.
• Wash water may not be discharged to the ground, storm drains, canals, lakes or other water bodies.
• Acceptable disposal is the sanitary sewer with permission from the utility that operates it, or removal by a licensed hauler.
• Having no washing permit to obtain is not the same as having permission to discharge.

The county's FAQ on this topic was last updated in May 2019. Before you commit to a disposal route, confirm with Broward County's environmental staff that the guidance is still current. Also check whether the city where you are working adds its own conditions.

How Florida DEP's mobile washing practices fit in

If you were looking for a PDF of Florida rules for detailing wastewater, the most relevant state document is the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's set of best management practices (BMPs) for mobile vehicle washing. In Broward, use it as a planning method alongside the county's sewer and hauler routes. Do not treat its broader discussion of land disposal as county permission. The practices that matter most for planning are:

• Choose your collection and disposal arrangement, and obtain any necessary authorizations, before washing.
• Map storm drains, swales, ditches and sewer manholes at the site.
• Check which way runoff will flow and how steep the slope is.
• Record the volume of wastewater generated and the volume disposed.
• For sewer disposal, get approval from both the utility and the property owner. Pretreatment may be required before the water is accepted.
• Booms (flexible barriers laid on the ground) can be less effective on slopes or at high water volumes. Collection pools, drain covers and pumps are alternatives.
• Closed-loop recycling systems still leave residual water or sludge that needs proper disposal.

The DEP guidance covers cosmetic exterior washing only. It excludes interior washing, undercarriage washing, engine degreasing and strongly acidic or alkaline cleaners, unless the work is done in an enclosed, zero-discharge, closed-loop facility. If your service menu includes any of these, raise them specifically with the county and your utility or hauler. Do not assume the mobile washing practices cover them.

Step 1: Build an authority worksheet for each site

Complete one worksheet per regular location, or per job type if you work at many sites. Each line is a question you must answer before the first wash:

• Site location and the municipality it falls in
• Property owner or manager, and written permission to wash there
• Wash scope and products: exterior only or more, and the cleaner types used
• Broward County environmental contact for discharge questions
• Sewer utility serving the site, if you plan to use the sanitary sewer
• Proposed receiving facility or licensed hauler, if you plan to haul
• Current primary guidance you are relying on, and its date
• Written authorization from the utility or hauler
• Pretreatment or acceptance conditions, such as solids removal or limits on oil or chemicals
• Transport and storage questions: how long water can be held, in what container, and how it is moved
• Records the utility, hauler or county expects you to keep
• Date you confirmed each item

Step 2: Map the collection route and resolve every connection

Think of the water's path as a chain. If any link fails, the water ends up somewhere it is not allowed to go.

wash area -> containment -> pump -> storage/transfer -> authorized destination
                                                        (sewer with utility permission
                                                         or licensed hauler)

For each link, record:

• Equipment and model
• Usable dimensions
• Site slope at the wash position
• Whether the vehicle and your working space fit
• Documented capacity
• Pump flow rate and hose or connection specifications
• Storage limits
• Setup and cleaning instructions
• The operator responsible for that link

Do not schedule operations until every link has an answer. A common gap is a mat and pump that work well, paired with a storage tank whose fittings don't match the hauler's equipment or the utility's approved connection point.

Step 3: Compare containment mats against your sites

A water containment mat is a flexible floor with raised edges, called bund walls, that holds wash water so it can be pumped out. As an example of how to read specifications, here are two vehicle wash mats listed by the supplier Chatoyer. Both use 75 mm foam bund walls that vehicles can drive over.

Feature	CHWM02	CHWM01
Internal dimensions	6 × 3 m	18 × 4 m
Stated capacity	1,350 L	5,400 L
Bund wall	75 mm foam, drive-over	75 mm foam, drive-over
Material	PVC or reinforced polypropylene-coated fabric	PVC or reinforced polypropylene-coated fabric
Underlay	Geotextile underlay recommended	Geotextile underlay recommended
Access	Ramp must be available	Ramp must be available
Water removal	Submersible pump to treatment or storage	Submersible pump to treatment or storage
Typical fit	Single car-sized footprint	Larger vehicles or longer layouts

When comparing these or other mats, check four things against your actual sites:
Footprint: confirm the vehicle and your working space fit inside the walls. A mat that only just fits the car leaves overspray landing outside it.
Slope: a stated capacity assumes the full wall height is usable. On a sloped driveway or lot, water collects at the low edge, so usable capacity is lower.
Surface: a geotextile underlay helps protect the mat from rough or sharp ground.
Pump and connections: the pump must suit the mat's sump area and your storage container.
A mat's specifications describe the equipment only. They do not establish that any disposal route is approved.

Illustrative sizing arithmetic

This is a hypothetical example to show the calculation, not a measured figure. Suppose you assume 20 litres collected per job and do four jobs before emptying storage. You would need to hold 4 × 20 = 80 litres. Separately, a mat's geometric volume is length × width × wall height. For the smaller mat, 6 × 3 × 0.075 m = 1.35 cubic metres, or 1,350 litres, which matches the stated capacity. For the larger one, 18 × 4 × 0.075 m = 5.4 cubic metres, or 5,400 litres. Neither calculation tells you how much water you will actually collect, how much the mat holds on a given slope, whether your pump is suitable, or whether disposal is permitted. Measure your real collected volumes and log them, as the DEP practices recommend.

Records, operations and budgeting

• Log each job's date, site, wash scope, estimated volume collected and volume disposed.
• Keep each disposal record: the utility authorization reference for sewer discharge, or hauler pickup documentation.
• File the written authorizations and property-owner permissions with your site worksheet.
• Recheck authorizations when you add services, change cleaning products or start working in a new municipality.

For budgeting, water-management supplier Carewater groups the planning considerations as space for tanks, pumps and piping; any infrastructure changes; maintenance; and staff training. Its cost categories are water purchase, handling, heating, treatment and discharge. A mobile operator can use those categories as prompts. Hauling fees, any pretreatment the utility requires, replacement mats and pump servicing typically belong in the handling, treatment and discharge lines.

Next step

Pick your primary disposal route first: a sewer connection with utility permission, or a licensed hauler. Then contact that utility or hauler with your wash scope and products, and ask for their acceptance conditions in writing. Choose a mat, pump and storage container that match those conditions and fit your typical site layout. Finally, confirm with Broward County that its prohibition and disposal options are unchanged before your first job.