Water treatment is one of, if not the most important issue in the whole car wash process. It is particularly crucial to the success and wash quality of the Touchfree Automatic.

Water treatment is typically broken into three parts

•        Water Softening

•        Reverse Osmosis (R/O)

•        Hot Water

Water softening is the process of removing the Calcium and Magnesium (which create hardness) from the water and replacing it with Sodium. There are two major benefits to softening water – firstly it limits the amount of chemical needed to deliver a quality wash; and secondly it extends the life of pumps, hot water services and solenoids.

Reverse Osmosis (also known as hyper filtration), is the finest filtration system known. It is the process of removing the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), with particles as small as ions, from the water supply. Reverse Osmosis uses a membrane that is semi-permeable, allowing the fluid being purified to pass through it, while rejecting the contaminants that remain. The water is then stored in a tank and used for the final rinse program for both the self serve and automatic washes. This means not having to use a chamois to dry the car as the purity of the water allows it to dry naturally without spotting.

Hot water is used in the high pressure soap and wax functions in the Self Serve and the low-pressure presoak in the Touchfree Automatic. The hot water is generally produced using an instantaneous gas heater. As most chemicals become more active when mixed with hot water, this clearly assists in the cleaning process.