Redwood City car wash uses 1 cup of water per vehicle

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KGO) -- If your neighbor is getting their car washed weekly, you might peg them as a water waster during this drought. But a car wash on the Peninsula claims it can get your car squeaky clean by using less than one cup of water per wash.

The workers wash the vehicles by spraying a chemical on and then wiping it off. The little bit of water used is in a bucket that they dip their microfiber towels into. They say the spray is made with less than a cup of water.

The owner of Eco Green Auto Clean in Redwood City says people were skeptical when he first opened 2.5 years ago. People were worried about the car getting scratched without water.

But manager Victor Perez says it won't scratch your car and adds that now that people are really getting serious about the drought, they're starting to give this place a try.

"We're getting a lot more customers," he said. "They're cutting off the water in different types of cities. And in Redwood City it hasn't happened yet. But sooner or later it will, though. And when that happens, we're just gonna blow up. We're already doing it, though. It's just little by little people are starting to notice that we have less than a year of water to live with."

The formula is plant derived surfactants and is non-toxic. They even say you could take a sip of it and be fine. They tell us it breaks up the dirt particles, although if you have dirt caked onto your car you have to spray that off with some water first. But for a basic cleaning, they say this will get it done.

They estimate that their business has tripled on the weekends now that people are trying to conserve water.

A wash with an SUV will cost $30. If you want to do it yourself, you can buy the formula for about $15 and the towel for $3.

To learn how much your city is required to cut back, click here. For water rebate information from Bay Area water suppliers, click here. And click here for tips on how to conserve water. To learn more about how to report water wasters #WhereYouLive, click here.

For full coverage on the drought, click here.