There are more than 2 million cars registered in the Tampa Bay area. And where there are lots of cars, there are lots of places to wash them. The proliferation of car washes in the area has some residents debating their ethics at public town halls and online Reddit threads during a regional drought. Water managers issued an “extreme water shortage” in April that’s still in effect. It limits residents’ water-use outdoors to one day a week, including driveway car washing. So why can commercial car washes spray down hundreds of cars a day with impunity? Michael Lynch, wetlands director for the Environmental Protection Commission of Hillsborough County, says it’s a misconception that car washes use an exorbitant amount of water. He said car washes get permission from city or county governments to hook up to their water system. But then, they typically use very little from it. Most car washes recycle water in a “closed-loop” system that became common in the early 2000s, Lynch said. It’s much cheaper, greener and more efficient than how they used to operate. “I cannot think of a car wash in the last, gosh, I want to say maybe 20 years, that’s not changed to recycle,” he added. The Southwest Water Management District, the agency that sets drought restrictions, encourages people to turn toward businesses that recycle water and “use less gallons of freshwater than washing your car at home,” according to spokesperson Susanna Martinez Tarokh. Rich Super is the maintenance director for Woodie’s Car Wash, a Tampa-based chain with 18 locations across the area. Super says his car washes typically use 10 to 20 gallons of water per car. The other 60-80 gallons needed come from their recycling system. Their filters work by feeding the recycled water through three tanks before it goes through a “sand separator” that removes fine particles. The business uses biodegradable soap and energy efficient motors to further reduce their environmental footprint, Super said. “We build these things with environmental concerns in mind to leave as little of an impact on our natural resources as possible,” he said. In his travels to other car wash chains around the state, Super has seen companies employ unique sustainability methods. He recalled one Cape Coral business that filtered rainwater to offset their water use. “You know, we are in Florida, I think that’d be a pretty cool thing to get behind,” he said. The Tampa Bay Times launched the Environment Hub in 2025 to focus on some of Florida‘s most urgent and enduring challenges. You can contribute through our journalism fund by clicking here .