Wednesday 19th February 2003

Washout

Wash it with Evian

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[v8thunder]

The sheer closed-world mealy-mouthedness of these Brussels bureaucrats is staggering. So they want our cars to collect mud and grime, become unusable and rot away because they haven't found a way to ban them yet. Or am I being too extreme?

[s2ooz]

Ive been to eurpean countries, not one has any kind of "standards" or stringent council/police enforcement as the UK for ANY EEC policy. so why are we not telling EEC to change to our ways, instead of the poor electrics, bad plumping, and sub standard housing - cars that wouldnt pass an MOT etc etc etc...


is it me or is anyone aware of eec rulings "improving" any other EEC country?

[kevinday]

You can't help but laugh at the stupidity of such things. Now if they were to do something sensible like standardise the home electrical system to be the safest possible (i.e. the UK version with 3 pin plugs) then one could see a safety improvement as a reason. I know it will never happen because of costs but I REALLY HATE these European 2 pin electrocution points.

[Arno]

There are now fears that this ban could extend to car washes around the UK.

And this should not be a problem.. If they, like most parts in europe, are closed systems that re-cycle the majority of the water they use in a car-wash.

Any 'waste' water from these car washes has to be treated like chemical waste and processed as such, before being released.

This has been the case in several countries for quite some time now.

Of course.. Washing your car on the street is slowly being made illegal in most european countries though.

[elise81]

I come from Australia and out here we have the same rubbish stuffed down our throats. I was last in Europe in 97 and thought the place needed a good clean now some one needs to get a life and be satified with an envirnmentally friendly cleaner OR perhaps they have a barrow to push i.e. sell a new product to the exclusion of all others

[davefiddes]

As I live in Edinburgh and work just across the road from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency(SEPA) office that will be dealing with this I figure I have a vested interest...

Sounds to me like the bus company's bum is out of the window on this. If they are dumping the effluent from their washing unprocessed into the drains then they deserve to be nicked for it as does anyone else who does something similar. Just because it is transport related doesn't suddenly make it OK to pollute!

That said most car washes recycle water for economic as well as environmental reasons (I hope they have good filters though! ).

As for this being an EU conspiracy to stuff unnecessary beaurocracy down our throats...in this day and age if Brussels didn't mandate it we'd have to make up the regulations ourselves. Stopping the planet from becoming a bigger tip than it needs to be is a good thing...if you don't believe me try peeing in your backyard for a while!!!

[smele]

You are not allowed to wash your car over here in Seattle. It's an excuse I use all the time, but it's true. The drains are flow out into the sound, and you can get fined for washing your car on a public street.

[CraigAlsop]

davefiddes said: As I live in Edinburgh and work just across the road from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency(SEPA) office that will be dealing with this I figure I have a vested interest...

Hi Dave,
did you ever finish your Ultima?
If so, fancy taking it along to one of the local TVR meets sometime? - I'm sure you would get lots of admirers