Formation Agency Sings a New Tune as Districts Draw Criticism

As an Orange County resident and the owner of a professional carwash, I feel doubly compelled to comment on your article concerning expenditures of over $8,000 for car washing by officials of the Santa Margarita Water District (“Carwashes, Wax Jobs Cost O.C. Water District $8,460,” April 17).

In a vain attempt to justify his clients’ outrageous expenditures, attorney (Marshall M.) Schulman blasted the operations of all professional carwashes by claiming that we damage a car’s alignment and finish.

I’ve washed more than 1 million cars in my career and have never had any problems with alignment or paint damage caused by our wash process.

Professional carwashes have been required by water districts, and I am sure Santa Margarita is no exception, to install and maintain costly water recycling systems.

Professional carwashes are also required to pump their discharge pits and pay to have their byproducts trucked to a waste-processing plant for disposal.

It is incomprehensible to me that these top water district executives would allow a company to wash cars in their parking lot. How much of their water is recycled? Where does their discharge water go? Down the storm drain and into the ocean untreated? Isn’t this potential hazardous dumping?

It is obvious Mr. (Walter) Knitz and Mr. (Michael) Lord have not only ignored their duty to the public by their liberal spending practices, but they have ignored their job duties as well by promoting a method of car washing that is both water wasteful and environmentally unsound.

TIMOTHY J. WILLIAMS

Cypress