Car Washing

Bothell residents: Click here to take a survey about how you usually wash your vehicle and we'll send you a voucher for one free exterior car wash!

Do you wash your vehicle in your driveway?

Vehicle wash water contains pollutants like oil, grease, heavy metals, solvents and soaps. If these harmful pollutants run off your driveway and into the road, they can flow into storm drains and travel to our local streams, rivers, and Puget Sound - untreated. Over 2,000,000 gallons of contaminated car wash runoff flows into our streams each year!

What does the law say about car washing?

We don't have a "car washing law," but we do have a law that specifies materials that are prohibited from entering storm drains. Soap (even biodegradable), detergent, and many other contaminants are included in the list of materials that should stay out of the stormwater system. You can read the entire list of prohibited materials in Bothell Municipal Code (BMC) 18.04.260. This BMC applies to both public stormwater systems as well as private stormwater systems.

How can I safely wash my vehicle?
If the method you currently use to wash your car allows the soapy water and runoff to drain into the street and storm drains, consider trying a safer method.