Water usage characteristics of car wash facilities in Ortahisar district of Trabzon province

Water usage characteristics of car wash facilities in Ortahisar district of Trabzon province

Introduction. Water management is on top of the agenda for all countries Aim of the study. The aim of this study was to determine the water usage in the car wash facilities of Ortahisar district of Trabzon province, such as the features of the water used in drinking and car washing, the disposal of wastewater and case of water interruption situation in the facilities. Material and methods. This descriptive study was conducted in Ortahisar district of Trabzon province. The study population of the research is not fully known. All the car wash facilities in the district of Ortahisar in Trabzon province were tried to be reached. A questionnaire consisting of questions evaluating the water use characteristics of the facilities was applied to 61 (85.9%) business owners who had accepted the interview by face to face interview method. Results. 20 (32.8%) fuel stations and 41 (67.2%) car care facilities participated in the survey. 49 (80.3%) of the facilities were using tap water as drinking water source. 37 (60.7%) of the facilities were using tap water as car washing water source and 28 (45.9%) of them were using well water. The median monthly water consumption of facilities using only tap water for car washing was found 43 (8.6-429.8) tons. The median number of vehicles washed per day was 16.5 (4-100). 4 of the facilities (6.6%) discharged waste water to sewerage without treatment. Conclusions. Car washing causes considerable amount of water usage which is prominently drinking water.  Key words: Car wash, water management, Trabzon, wastewater

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  • Volkan Karabacak1, Murat Topbaş1, Serdar Karakullukçu1, Yusuf Demirtaş1, Sertaç Çankaya1, Gamze Çan1, N. Ercüment Beyhun1 1Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine Public Health Department, Trabzon, Turkey
  • Volkan Karabacak, MD Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine Public Health Department Üniversite Mahallesi, 61080 Ortahisar, Trabzon, Turkey Tel: + 904623775122 e-mail: drvolkankarabacak@hotmail.com