Ideas on wash water catchment system

Wasn't sure where to put this but thought this would be the best subforum.

Anyways, since I have invested $50k+ on my new truck and my wife has a newer Limited Explorer and I have "invested" in nice new detailing products I am now washing two vehicles per week, usually.

Well, I live in Socal, and you all know of the water issues we have here. I'm just not going to let $100k (original cost) in vehicles go dirty for weeks on end especially since one is black and the other Granite Chrystal Met. My driveway is gently sloped at about 3-4* and the water runs down the driveway into the gutter/curb area. I could easily catch most of this runoff and use it for my plants, etc. just need a decent DIY system to do so. Any of you have any ideas on how to make something work. No, I can't wash the vehicle on my lawn, either.

My first thought was to get two 8' 4x4s and put a rubber weather stripping on the bottoms. Form a "V" shape like a pinball machine bumper at the bottom of my drive and then use one of my older shop vacs to suck up the water before it hits the gutter. The problem is it is only a 16 gallon tank on the shopvac. I wonder if I could find a larger drum to suck through the vac tank and into a larger drum tank???

What have you used or seen that may work? I would normally let it go into the storm drain but have heard of a friend several streets over get cited for sprinkler runoff and watering on certain days where water is not allowed.

berm up (with boards) a tarp. Wash vehicles on tarp. collect wash water in deep end and pump into barrel or buckets with a small submersible pump. You could also run your vacuum hose into two **** adapters on barrel, as long as the barrel was airtight, the water will fall out when it reaches the the barrel.

Can you dig a small sump near the curb to allow the pump sbarron mentioned to work properly? Something that has a lid for safety.

sbarron said:

berm up (with boards) a tarp. Wash vehicles on tarp. collect wash water in deep end and pump into barrel or buckets with a small submersible pump. You could also run your vacuum hose into two **** adapters on barrel, as long as the barrel was airtight, the water will fall out when it reaches the the barrel.

Click to expand...

Didn't think of the tarp method. I believe I have a few that are big enough. Will have to check but would think a 10' or 12' x 20' would do the trick. Not sure how much water I use but would guess it's probably around 50 gallons or more for the two vehicles. Thank.


Oh, an no where to dig a hole for a sump pump.

Most of those sump pumps will pump down to about an inch. You can always gather the tarp towards the pump to finish up. Or use your vacuum and empty it a few times.

Check your laws to make sure that you won't get nailed for catching the water as some municipalities have those sort of restrictions.

chemical guys

this might work for ya

Make sure it's even legal for you to wash your car in your driveway. All you need is to get a nice visit from the authorities and a hefty ticket.

Hopefully this makes sense...
'Berm it' is correct or...
Take a flexible discharge hose and install threaded male pvc fittings on the ends of hose using clamps and glue. Probably best if you cut a 6" or so piece of pvc pipe and insert into each hose ends securing with glue and reinforcing with clamps. Next glue on a male adapter for screwing a cap onto the ends to seal. Fill the hose with water or sand, cap other end and lay hose across driveway in the shape of a ᴗ to catch water runoff. If need be, place a second hose a few feet behind the first to ensure no leak by.

If you prefer to use sand, glue one end of hose first, then fill with sand and glue other hose end, then have a shoe repair or fabric shop fold the ends and sew with heavy duty thread, or use fishing line and DIY... no fittings needed. Very similar to the two 4"x 4"x 8" method.

Check with local fire department stations and see if they have any old unserviceable discharge fire hydrant hose they will give you. Or do a search online... below is link just for reference to a discharge hose, it's only 3" in diameter and you may desire larger size

3 in. x 25 ft. PVC Discharge Hose 58 PSI

Just as sbarron mentioned..
For discharging water, place a sump pump near the center section of the catch (hose). Purchase a pvc adapter for installing a garden hose to the discharge outlet of pump and route the garden hose wherever you desire wastewater to discharge.

Below is a link to a cheap sump pump with a tethered float, turns on and off automatically depending on height of water. If you were to choose this route or similar, I would research at what depth of water the pump cuts on and off prior to purchasing, as you would still need to remove any remaining water with a shop vac that the pump does not discharge. If it has a tethered float like the one in the link, you can always zip tie the float up high enough to make the pump run continuously if preferred

1 HP Stainless Steel Submersible Dirty Water Pump with Tethered Float 2910 GPH


Btw, not recommending or supporting HF products as I have never bought a tool from HF as of date....