All language subtitles for Modern.Marvels.S22E06.Car.Wash.Tech.1080p.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H264-BTN_track3_[eng]

- [Narrator] It's
where we wash our cars.

It spins.

It sprays.

It's powerful enough to
suck up a bowling ball.

How about some tips
for doing it yourself?

Or a challenge to clean this
stuff off a $160,000 Porsche?

And how do you clean a train
that carries radioactive waste?

It's time to clean up,

Car Wash Tech on
"Modern Marvels."

[upbeat music]

[gears grinding]

[water spraying]

Why do we wash our cars anyway?

- It drives better
when it's clean.

- It's a pride thing.

I don't really like
to drive a dirty car.

- You just feel better about
the car and your appearance.

- You get up in the morning
and take a shower, don't you?

[laughing]

- [Narrator] Every weekend,

millions steer
their dirty vehicles

into one of the 60,000

car washes across America.

- All my potential
clients take a nice look

at my shiny black truck.

- I'm graduating tomorrow
with a bachelor's degree,

so I want it to look really nice

when my mom and
everybody comes in.

- [Narrator] The car
wash industry washes

nearly 8 million passenger
vehicles per day.

And more than 2
billion cars are washed

by professional car
washes every year.

- Have somebody else do it,
you know, and save your nails.

[upbeat music]

- Car ready!

- [Narrator] It's a business
whose owners clean up

with 14 billion a
year in annual sales.

The options:

full serve,

self serve,

and in bay automatics.

[upbeat music]

Quite a success story for an
industry that began in 1914

with a couple of employees

washing cars by hand.

Today, the Bucky's car
wash in Katy, Texas

gets the Guinness World Record

as the world's longest car wash.

[cars driving]

But one of the earliest
industry leaders

and the envy of car
washes everywhere,

was Cloister Car Wash,

located 80 miles outside of
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The owners have moved
on to new ventures,

but in its heyday,

Cloister's innovative services
were so numerous and unique.

- Number one and number two.

- [Narrator] People traveled
from around the world

to experience a wash,

drive a motorcycle,

ride it onto the bike bay,

plop your front
wheel on the slot,

get it up on the rise platform,

and commence washing.

[water spraying]

Got a dirty dog?

No problem.

That's what the Cloister
Pet Wash was made for.

[soft music]

If you felt the need
to cleanse your soul,

you could take a
moment in their chapel

or stroll through their
old time miniature town.

You could get a haircut,

check your email,

or grab a free cup of Joe.

[upbeat music]

But the majority of motorists

come for a ride through one of

the cleanest, friendliest,

and most advanced tunnel
wash systems in the industry.

Despite its size and
cutting edge technology,

Cloister's tunnel system

was built like most others,

from the ground up.

A standard tunnel wash starts
with a 4 x 150 foot long pit.

Concrete lines the pit and
creates the car wash foundation.

The pit has a 30 degree
slope to the side,

and is six and a half
feet deep on one end

and two and a half on the other.

This allows a trough
to carry water

and sludge away for drainage.

A pipe at the end of
the trough attaches

to holding tanks outside.

Encased electrical wiring
runs the length of the pit.

A tunnel covers the pit.

And finally a conveyor pushes
the cars through the wash.

Wash and soap barges are
ready to do the work.

Now let's wash some cars.

- When we bring the vehicle in,

we load it onto a loading belt

and that's much easier
for the customer,

that way they don't have
to put their tire into

a small conveyor track.

We'll take care of that
mechanically for them.

We'll spray it down first
with an alpha line material

that helps to start
the pre-cleaning,

and it'll also help
to break down any bugs

that are on the vehicle.

Next it is treated with
high pressure rinsing

that is used primarily to
clean any hard to clean areas

in the areas around
the windshield.

And it also helps remove
the alkaline cleaner

that we've already put on.

As the car comes down,

it will self load
into the conveyor

by means of the
correlator and a sled

that'll allow the
car to move freely.

It'll push the vehicle
without any harm to the wheel

or the tire onto the conveyor.

- [Narrator] In the 1950s,

conveyors helped automate
the car wash industry.

And one of the largest and old
oldest names in the business

is the Jim Coleman Company,

located in Houston, Texas.

Today it's part of the
Coleman Hanna Company

and they produce
approximately 100 different

automated conveyor systems.

- This is a standard heavy
duty car wash conveyor.

It's manufactured
with heavy duty,

steel with rollers, chain
and a hydraulic motor.

When a computer senses the
car is in the right position,

a roller will pop up

and it takes about
one horsepower to be

able to push a vehicle
through the car wash.

This conveyor will push
the car all the way

through the wash,

rinse, wax and drying process.

We have this plastic rail here

to protect the
outside of the tire.

When the car exits the tunnel,

this roller here will
go below the surface

to be reused again.

- [Narrator] The conveyor
first pushes vehicles

through an optical sensor,

which signals the computer
to start the wash cycle.

[water spraying]

- As the vehicle comes down,

the soap is applied

and it goes into
what's called a mitter.

This is a cloth
that is scratch free

and what it does is
create enough friction

along with the soap
to clean the surface.

Next piece of equipment
is a wrap around.

Again, it's a felt like material

that's used to clean the front,

side and rear surfaces
of the vehicle.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The Hannah Coleman
company makes their brushes

out of both cloth and foam,

each designed for
a specific purpose.

- This is where all
the brush manufacturing

starts right here.

We buy rolls of material.

This machine cuts the material.

We use a cloth material
that we call a textile

that absorbs the
water and it provides

very good cleaning results
on the surface of the car.

We cut in small fingers

to be able to wash
the car effectively.

We also have available
a foam material

that uses more water
and more chemicals,

but it's a closed cell foam

that's softer and more gentle
to the surface of the vehicle.

- [Narrator] Manufacturers
have designed

different sized brushes to cover

every inch of a car's exterior.

- This material is
an extra wide cut,

so when it drags across
the surface of the vehicle,

it provides gentle
cleaning ability.

Whereas this material is for
the sides of the vehicle.

It's a very lightweight material

and it's designed to
clean under mirrors,

around mirrors, door
handles and stuff like that.

Around license plate frames.

[sewing machines]

- [Narrator] Workers sew the
brushes to plastic liners,

which are then inserted
into an aluminum brush core.

- Just slide it
into the segments.

This brush core is spinning
inside of a car wash,

where it is washing the
surface of the vehicle.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] And once
they're in action,

the brushes will last
for about 150,000 washes

before they need to be replaced.

Next comes a dousing
of polish from above,

and then some
scrubbing down below.

- And what this white
wall brush will do is spin

hydraulically and
air will engage it

to push it into the
raised white letters

or the white walls
of this vehicle.

It's a nylon material,
nylon bristles.

It'll engage into the tire

cleaning the raised white
letters or the white walls.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] A second
series of brushes

removes the suds in
preparation for rinsing.

[water spraying]

A high pressure nozzle
rinses off most of the soap

while the wheels are under
some pressure of their own.

- This is the wheel cleaner.

It uses high pressure with
zero degree nozzles to apply

high pressure directly to
the rim of the vehicle,

cleaning it.

The wheel blaster is
hydraulically driven

and the computer will
keep track of the position

of the wheel

in relationship to the length
of the body of the car.

So it knows where the
wheel is on every vehicle.

[water spraying]

- [Narrator] And finally,

a rain bar drops a high
volume of water onto the car

rinsing any last
residue from the vehicle

before it enters the
first of two drying rooms.

Total water used per vehicle,

43 gallons.

Some car washers
use more, some less,

but that's still less than we
use to take an average bath.

Today America's car washes use

1.3 million gallons
of water per year,

making the need for a more
eco-friendly system that uses

less water and puts
out less waste.

Many like the Cloister car wash

rely on a recycled water system.

- And it all starts here

with the water main that
comes in from the city.

And this water is pumped up

and placed in
these holding tanks

to be used out on
the line as needed.

This is the hydraulic pack
that drives everything

hydraulically driven
on the conveyor.

These are the high pressure
pumps and motors that drive all

of the high pressure water
out to the conveyor itself.

These are the chemicals in
the different pumping units

that will mix and
blend the chemical

and send it out to the conveyor

to properly wash the vehicle.

These are the water softeners.

We soften the water

because soft water will
adhere better to the soap

and allow it to lather better.

- [Narrator] The hard water
pumped in from the city

contains calcium and magnesium,

minerals that don't
bind well with soap.

The water softener removes them.

But where does all the
grimy polluted water go

after each wash?

That would be in
the water trough,

under the conveyor.

- The conveyor pit is at
its deepest point here.

All of the water that
is generated will flow

into this deepest portion.

And as you can see,

there's a metal
grate over the pipes

that would stop
any large solids.

This is designed this way
to flush any solids down

to this particular area

where it will go out
to separation tanks

and the solids will be
separated from the water.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] A six inch pipe
transports the sludge water

to a 2000 gallon sediment tank,

where about 80% of the
solids sink to the bottom.

The water continues
onto a second tank

where another 15% of the
waste is separated out.

The water then
enters a final tank.

There a third of it is
filtered and piped back

into the car wash to be reused.

The remaining water flows
out into the sewer pipes.

The captured solid waste will
be vacuumed out for disposal.

Thanks to the Federal
Clean Water Act,

operators must monitor
water pollutants.

- If they exceed
acceptable levels,

the water must be treated
before it can be released

into the sewer system.

After the final rinse,

the car enters the drying rooms.

The first drying room
shoots air onto the vehicle

to push the water
off the surface.

Each blower produces
54,000 cubic feet

per minute of airflow,

or the equivalent of
1800 home hair dryers.

The car travels into
a second drying room

through a set of airtight doors.

- We close the doors in order

to keep the ambient temperature

of the room high
enough to effectively

evaporate the water
off the surface.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Then the
Cloister car wash experience

continues with a drive over
to the interior cleaning area.

- This is where your car
will have the windows washed

and the interior vacuumed

while it rides on
the conveyor belt

that moves the vehicle and the
employees at the same time.

The employees will
vacuum with vacuums

that are actuated by sensors

that only turn on
once the employee

has picked the vacuum nozzle
up off of it's holder.

- [Narrator] Once a
worker lifts the nozzle,

it triggers a torrent of suction

operated by a high
powered vacuum.

High powered is
an understatement.

- We have a 20 horsepower motor,

a vacuum producer,

a filter bag,

a dirt collector.

This unit is capable of
handling eight vacuum cleaners

at one time.

It is so strong it can hold
a 16 pound bowling ball.

Turn it on.

[vacuum running]

This vacuum cleaner can suck
up anything outta your car.

Sucks out all the
nooks, crannies,

all your typical dirt and debris

that you normally would have.

As you can see it's so strong

it's hard for me to even
pull the bowling ball

off of the suction.

It's one of the most powerful
vacuums in the world.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Fear not,
employees are careful

with all that power
in their hands.

- What I'm looking for when
I'm doing this is any debris,

any dirt, any
thing from outside,

any dog hair,

any loose food debris like that.

We try to avoid
vacuuming any valuables,

anything that's of
perceived value like change.

And cars that have
children in them

often is a lot of Cheerios,

french fries, candy,

that sort of thing.

- [Narrator] And
finally it's time

to make your car
smell new again.

Of course you could pick up
one of those colorful trees

hanging on a rack in the lobby,

or you could head on over
to the fragrance machine.

- On this machine
you've got your choice

of three fragrances,

cherry, baby powder, and
of course new car smell.

Here's how it works
on the inside.

We have three,

one gallon containers
for each fragrance.

We have an air compressor that
will pump air out through a

small tubing that
will come to a head

that is designed to be
sprayed into the carpet.

The oil base fragrance
lasts about one week.

It's a new car fragrance,

it's the most popular

because everybody loves
the way a new car smells.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] To get
that new car smell,

fragrance manufacturers combine
wood, vanilla, and citrus

with chemicals designed to
smell like leather and carpet.

[upbeat music]

If you don't have the 30 minutes

most of our car
washes require

to make your car
sparkling clean,

and you're looking
to save a few bucks,

there's the so-called all
in one in bay automatic.

Just pull in, park, let the
car wash move around you

as water nozzles
sweep across your car.

- The way we
developed this machine

is we looked at how
people wash their cars.

We know that when
you wash your car

you scrub down,

you go back and forth.

You want the high pressure
to hit the surface of the car

and get a cutting effect,

cleaning that dirt,

pushing that dirt off the car.

The way we do that

is that we have a motor that
is turning round and round.

But what happens is
through the linkage,

we're able to take
that high pressure

and we're able to make motion
go up and down like this,

to be able to clean the car.

- [Narrator] The nozzles
sit inside an arch or gantry

which sizes up your car as it
rinses, soaps and dries it,

all in just five minutes.

- On our gantry we have
four electric eyes.

These eyes are
used to be able to

measure the height
of the vehicle,

and that allows this
boom to come down

and keep a safe distance
from the vehicle

to ensure that we have
good cleaning results

on every square
inch of the vehicle.

- [Narrator] Not only is the
in bay automatic system fast,

it requires little maintenance,

except when it comes time
to clean the sludge pit.

- This pit contains all the
oils, greases, dirt, trash,

and everything
that's washed off of

the cars and trucks
and undercarriage.

This is where it
all comes down to,

the heavy solids,

the soils, the dirt,

grime, grease, grit.

It all goes into the sludge pit.

Thousands of cars have
accumulated dirt here.

We have a vacuum truck
that sucks it out

and have it taken to a
EPA approved dump site.

- [Narrator] Like every
other commercial car wash,

the automatic all
in one must adhere

to the federal clean water act.

But there's one car
washing exception,

home washing.

[upbeat music]

The federal government says

we can use as much
water as we want.

And once we've cleaned our car,

we can dump it into
the storm drain.

And of course, that
doesn't mean we should.

- According to the International
Car Wash Association,

a standard garden hose
that runs for 30 minutes

puts out 150 gallons of water.

That's three times
more than a trip

through the Cloister
tunnel wash.

And it all goes right
down the storm drain.

For some environmentally
friendly home cleaning ideas,

Victor Scalco,

who is the head detailer at
Mother's Waxes and Washes,

Huntington Beach, California,

has some tips.

Let's start with an
easy one, no dish soap.

- It has degreasers in it
to clean off the dishes.

It'll pull the wax off the car,

stripping your car of its wax

and shortening the
life of the paint job.

What you want to use is
a PH balanced car wash.

- [Narrator] Car wash soaps
contain specialty surfactants.

These surfactants loosen the
dirt from the paint surface

and suspend these
particulates in the soap suds

where they can be
safely rinsed away

without removing the wax.

And remember whatever the soap,

[buzzing sound]

you have to get rid of it,

and it could end up in a river.

Thankfully, soap manufacturers

offer biodegradable
alternatives.

The surfactants of
biodegradable soaps are made

from chains of carbon
and hydrogen molecules.

After they are disposed of

the surfactants are
flushed from the vehicle,

then eaten by naturally
occurring bacteria

and converted into carbon
dioxide, water and nutrients.

Next, don't give into the
temptation to use any abrasive

scrub washes on
your car's paint.

[buzzing sound]

That's going to take off the
wax and scratch the paint.

The sponge side is better,

but it's still not the best.

- You're gonna
wanna wash your car

with a formulated car wash mitt.

something that's soft,

that's been designed
to wash your car finish

without scratching it.

Sponges trap dirt and particles

where wash mitts will
let them flow freely

out of the mitt
into the wash bucket

as you clean them out.

- [Narrator] Our next tip has
to do with those white spots

in your windows or paint.

Those are minerals
inside city water.

Distilled water and vinegar
takes them right off.

- The distilled vinegar and
water will break it down without

damaging any paint,
chrome or glass.

- [Narrator] Here's
a surprising tip.

Think twice before you use
a chamois to dry your car.

[buzzing sound]

- Shammys drag particles across
the surface of the paint.

As they drag across the
surface of the paint,

they're also pulling waxes off.

- [Narrator] Reusable microfiber
drying towels work best.

The pores in the material are
tight enough to keep out dirt,

but wide enough to absorb water.

And they're available at
most auto care stores.

Now hand drying is a good thing.

There's hand devices
like Mr. Clean's

all in one auto dry car wash,

handheld devices that

attach to your garden hose.

Release the handle and the
water saving nozzle closes.

Flip the wash into the fly soap.

But where does the
drying part come in?

The manufacturer says a filter

removes all the
minerals in the water,

just rinse and let mother
nature dry your car.

No hands, no spots.

And our final bit
of advice, wax.

- If you protect your car
with a good hand applied

or machine applied wax,

you will protect your
car for longevity

more than you'll ever
get at a local car wash.

- Auto wax.

The manufacturer of some of
the industry's most popular

detailing products may
have changed their name

to Auto Magic,

but they haven't changed
the ingredients they use.

The same natural
wax and dental floss

is still found on
their products today.

- This is carnauba wax.

This comes from a
Brazilian Palm tree.

It's a very dense,

very non-water soluble wax.

- [Narrator] Too brittle
to use by itself,

workers must melt
the carnauba wax

into a hot kettle of
silicon and solvent,

blending them all together.

And they have preservatives
to preserve the wax and dye

to give it color.

- Now that we've transferred
everything into the large vat,

it will spin for
about four hours

while everything's
blended together.

Then we'll have the
finished product

that'll be ready to be packaged.

- [Narrator] On a car,

a layer of wax repels water,

and protects the paint
against contaminants.

It should last for
about eight washes.

Okay, detailer guy,
thanks for the info.

Now how about a challenge?

Plaster on tar?

Glue?

Bird dung.

Egg.

Paint.

The works.

Now let's do it to
a $160,000 Porsche

to make things interesting.

A hand wash in the driveway

or a trip through
the local car wash

takes care of most of the
dirt we get on our cars.

What about the heavier debris

like road tar or tree sap?

And what about those birds?

Ever try to get that stuff off?

Then maybe it's time to
revisit our master detailer,

Victor Scalco.

- There's two big differences
between a car wash

and a detailer.

Our car wash is there
to get as many cars

through the day as
fast as they can.

If you love your car and you
want it to look the same as it

did when it was new and
came off the showroom floor,

you need a detailer.

- [Narrator] Okay, let's see
what a good detailer can do.

Victor has agreed to a
Modern Marvels challenge.

We're going to plaster
this $160,000 Porsche

with some of the toughest
debris we could think of.

Oh, by the way, it's
not Victor's car.

Victor is then going to
show us how to remove it,

or so he hopes.

Our challenge starts
with a crack of an egg.

- Egg, egg damages the
paint under the sun.

Here we have road
tar stuck to paint,

especially when the sun gets
it evaporates and dries,

it's gonna be real
hard to get off.

What a mess, paint balls.

- [Narrator] Some simulated
bird dung brings texture.

- You know what?

Just all of it flat out.

Get it all on there.

It's gonna eat
through the paint.

Nice blotch underneath.

Can't wait.

- [Narrator] We'll call this
sticky glob of glue tree sap.

Add a bucket full of mud, pine
needles, oil, and sticky soda

with its phosphoric acid
gives us a nice overcoat.

- We're gonna pour
this all over the car.

Let's get it on.

How you gonna get that off?

That's gonna be tough.

- [Narrator] Let's
make it tougher

and bake it for a while
in the 100 degree sun.

[western music]

Take it away Mr. Detailer.

[water spray]

- First step is get the
big contaminants off.

Simply do that with a
hose, soap and water.

The large particulates,

the large particles
that are there

will scratch the paint surface.

- [Narrator] The
pressurized water

makes quick work of most of
the stuff from the bucket.

The pink paint comes off too.

That's a surprise.

However, if the egg
stays on much longer,

the acids inside
will etch the paint.

- You can see how stuck
it is to the paint.

And now we have a etching

that's occurring into
the paint surface.

We need to pull that off there.

The only way we're
gonna get that off there

is with a liquid
instant detailer.

By applying this, it
softens the egg yoke

without damaging the paint.

You can run your towel
over this while it's dry,

you can run your wash mitt,

but you're gonna scratch
the paint surfaces.

- [Narrator] The liquid
detailer contains

water soluble solvents
that soften the elements

and liquid polymers
that protect the paint

and prevent scratching.

- You can see how I'm
spreading this around.

The egg yoke is really sticky.

It's not gonna
come off by itself,

it's gonna need assistance.

You can see here
I'm almost done,

but I can't get it all off.

So now I need to
go to our clay bar.

- [Narrator] Since
clay is abrasive,

using it might seem
counterintuitive,

but when clay bars are made,

they're mixed with a
rubberized compound,

which keeps them from
scratching or damaging

the paint surface.

- The clay is a
blend of polymers

that will actually adhere
to the contamination

that's in your clear coat finish

and pull that contamination
up out of your clear coat.

And you can see the stuff that
comes up out of the vehicle.

- [Narrator] A
lubricant allows the bar

to slide over the surface.

Clay is composed of
mineral particles

which shear off contaminants.

Then they adhere to the
rubberized compounds in the bar.

- Using our lubricant,

we once again spray
onto the paint surface

to remove and lift any products
that may be stuck there,

and in doing so we
can use the clay

to remove the
final contaminants.

I've just about got that.

I'll go ahead and
clean that off.

As you can see,

the egg is now
completely removed

from the surface
without damaging.

- [Narrator] Okay. Let's tackle
the dried glue on the hood,

but Victor knew this part of
the challenge was over before

it even started.

- Wax preparation is key.

If you take it on a good wax

that filled the
pores of the paint,

you can see,

you can peel the glue right
off the paint surface.

Because I have a good
layer of wax underneath,

as you can see,

the glue is coming
completely off.

The wax fills the
pores of the paint,

not allowing any glue to
stick to the paint surface.

- [Narrator] If you
park under a tree,

you better make sure
your car has a good wax.

And then there's the road tar.

This stuff has some
powerful adhesive properties

and getting it off will require
something with some bite.

- I am worried about this tar,

so we're gonna get right to it.

The bug and tar
remover uses a chemical

to remove the tar.

Let that sit a moment

and then you should be
able to pull off your tar

without damaging
the paint below.

As the tar starts to break down,

you can see how it
smears on the vehicle.

It starts to smear
off into the towel.

And it's at this point

that I can continue
breaking that tar down.

- [Narrator] The solvents
in the tar remover home in

on there in intended target

without causing any
collateral damage.

- Paint by nature is
a hardened substance.

This tar that's on top of the
paint is a softer substance

that's hardened on top
of the paint surface.

So what we have here is a
situation where chemicals have

been designed strictly for
removing a contaminant,

such as road tar,

that don't hurt
the paint surface.

And last but not least,

the dreaded bird dropping.

How many times have you
come out and seen that?

Two products.

This will remove the
contaminants from the bird poop,

and this will remove the
damage done by the bird poop.

All right,

first thing you wanna do
very similar to the egg

is you wanna remove
the heavy contaminants

off the surface.

In doing so,

you're gonna soften it
up with the spray wax.

The reason we're
using your spray wax.

Anything else is you need a
good lubricant to have the

product slide off the paint
without damaging the paint

surface.

So as you can see here,

we've got the dung pretty
much out of the way,

The bird poop.

We're gonna discard of that.

- [Narrator] After Victor has
removed the lubricated dung,

he clears the leftovers
with a cleaner wax.

Made of synthetic
polishes and waxes,

it removes any markings
left from the dung.

Next, a thorough wash

and a good waxing

leaves it bright and shiny.

[upbeat music]

Victor can return the Porsche
to the unsuspecting owner

better than before.

This is the Clive
Utah disposal facility.

One of several federally
funded sites across the US

where low level radioactive
waste from excavated soil

is sent to die.

Specialized train cars
hold the contaminated earth

from a variety of locations

scattered around the US.

It's up to workers to remove it,

store it,

and then clean the rail cars

so that they can return
for another pickup.

Welcome to the nuclear car wash.

- These rail cars,

they're basically filled with
soils that were contaminated

during the research and
development of nuclear weapons

during the Cold War.

- [Narrator] Before these
rail cars can be cleaned,

the radioactive waste
has to be removed.

During the winter months,

the rail cars travel through
subzero temperatures,

which freezes the contaminated
soil into blocks of ice.

So when they arrive,

a locomotive pushes
the cars into the

specialty designed thaw room.

- Waste comes in and
it's frozen to a point

where it cannot be dumped
out of the rail car.

We've developed
this thaw building

to remove the ice
from the soils,

which enable it to be dumped.

This thaw building consists
of 84 high infrared heaters

that heat the car
from both the sides

and the bottom of the rail car.

To give you an idea,

two of these heaters that
heat the sides of the car

could actually heat a
2,500 square foot home.

It takes about 48 minutes
to go all the way down

through this process.

- [Narrator] Once the
radioactive soil is thawed,

the car is rolled into
a gigantic cylinder,

the rotary dump.

The top is lifted off

and a 75 horsepower motor
drives a set of gears,

which flip the quarter million
pound train car on its side.

- Each ring has 80,000
pounds of counterweight

on the top of the ring.

- [Narrator] That
weight balances out

the weight of the rail car,

which allows the 75 horsepower
motor to turn the car over.

[water spraying]

Now it's time to begin

the first stage of
the rail car washing.

Workers unleash high
pressure water cannons

on the cars interior.

- The water cannon operates at
300 gallons a minute and 90 PSI.

It gives us the ability to
clean the radio activity

and soil from the rail car.

If you'll notice, all
it takes is water.

It doesn't take any chemicals

to release that radio activity.

We're not trying to break
down the radio activity,

we're just trying to wash it
out and clean the rail car

for future use.

- [Narrator] An
underground pipe system

carries the water used
to clean the train car

to a lined holding pond.

As for the radioactive dirt,

trucks haul it to an
isolated area on the compound

where it will sit for a
hundred years while it decays.

With the inside
water blasted clean,

the outside of the train car
is now ready to be washed.

Similar to the car wash,

the train is transported
on a conveyor

and all of the cleaning
functions are activated.

- The automatic wash is
triggered by the photo eye.

When the exterior of the vehicle

crosses this photo eye here,

the wash system will activate

and the chemical
arch will start up.

It connects itself
to the indexer,

which is our conveyor
for the vehicle

through the automatic wash.

The chemical is applied
in an efficient manner by

determining how much water
and soap it takes to cover the

surface as it goes by
at one foot per second.

This space between
the chemical arch

and the spinner arch is
designed to allow the chemical

the time it takes to clean the
soils off of the surface of

the vehicle.

The spinner is gonna
apply high pressure,

high volume water to the
surface of the vehicle

to efficiently clean the vehicle

of all of the
contaminated surfaces.

The blowers are gonna
come on after the spinners

and the blowers are
gonna blow the water off.

- [Narrator] Finally, the
conveyor moves the rail car

through radiation detectors.

If the detectors register
a level safe enough

to transport food,

the train car exits the building

and hits the rail
for another pickup.

[water spraying]

The stakes aren't quite as high

for this industrial wash system.

Although a truck's
lifespan depends on it,

it's a tire and
undercarriage wash,

built by Stanton Systems

to clean the trucks that dump
salt on the highway during a

snow storm to hasten melting.

Salt can literally destroy
a truck's underside,

so getting it off is crucial.

- This is a salt truck
just in after salting.

As you can see,

it's loaded with salt
it all over the place,

under the vehicle,

up through all the equipment,

corroding it,

eating it,

destroying the truck.

This is the plow.

As you can see the
salts all over it too.

- [Narrator] The wash
design is simple enough.

A 2,400 gallon water
tank sits below the wash.

A pump sends water from the
tank through its 70 jets

that line the wash area.

After the jets rinse
wash off the salt,

the water falls through grates

and into a sloped catch basin.

Solids move to the
bottom of the basin

while pipes recycle the
water back to the water tank.

- The water contains no soap.

It has a chemical in it to
buffer out the corrosive nature

of the salt.

The pressure of the
wash is around 60 PSI

and about 600 gallons a minute.

Enough to wash salt off
this moving vehicle.

- [Narrator] That's a lot of
water, but it's all recycled.

When it turns milky
white with salt,

usually after a couple
of heavy snowstorms,

the water is replaced.

- As the truck goes in,
the plow is washed first.

The sides of the
trucks are washed.

The undercarriage
then is washed.

All the equipment on
the side of the truck,

the underneath of the truck,

all the harnesses,

the eye beams,

and all the hardware on back
of the truck are washed.

- [Narrator] Stanton also
makes portable systems.

It can be up and running
in less than a day.

Of course, most of us don't
need an industrial wash.

But would you believe car
manufacturers are designing cars

with a car wash in mind.

[upbeat music]

Modern cars aren't just designed
to weather the elements,

they're also designed
to survive the car wash.

That means manufacturers
like Hyundai

in Montgomery, Alabama

have to secure cars,
every nook and cranny.

And that starts
inside the paint shop

where robotic arms coat cars
with four layers of paint,

a primer,

two color coats,

and a final acrylic layer
called the clear coat.

- And that's really there to
product against scratching,

and miring the wire brushes,

the cloth brushes,

any mechanism that rolls against

the surface of the car, that's
what the clear coat protects.

- [Narrator] Next workers
start closing up any gaps.

Take the sunroof, for example.

- The two elements in a car wash

that we're trying to
control is air and water.

So the critical
feature of a sunroof

to control air and water
from entering the cabin

is the seal.

You can see the seal
along the glass.

It meets up to the body and
that prevents water and air from

intruding into the cabin

while we're moving
through the car wash.

- [Narrator] Hyundai
designers have built a gutter

around the sunroof
to collect water.

Plastic tubing
takes it from there.

- The tubing that you see is
designed to carry the water

away from the sunroof
out of the gutter

and out through the body,

as it's threaded
through the body

and out to the
natural environment.

- [Narrator] There was
a time when automakers

used to put wipers high
up on the windshield.

- Today we try to design
the windshield wipers

so they're tucked underneath
the surface of the hood.

So any of the brushes or
the mechanisms in a car wash

don't have an opportunity
to grab the wiper,

yank it off the glass,

or destroy the
structure of the wiper.

So when we put the hood down,

that's where you can really see
that this surface sits above

the top of the windshield

so when the wiper blades come
or the washing blades come,

it can't catch below the wiper.

- [Narrator] Then
there's that graded area

between the top of the hood

and the base of the windshield.

That's the air intake for the
heating and air conditioning

systems and a potential
water collection area.

- The water runs
down the windshield.

It'll go through the grill
feature in the cover cowl top.

So the cowl inner is designed
to carry the water away

from the air conditioning
and heater opening

so that we don't suck
water into those systems.

So we have a drain designed
that has an opening

on the right hand side
and left hand side.

The water flows through there,

out onto the ground and not
into the cabin where the

customer is. That is
specifically designed to protect

against the car wash
environment.

- [Narrator] Remember
those steel bumpers

that protruded beyond
the body frame,

not good inside a car wash.

- The brushes in the car wash
on the older cars could get

caught in that bumper system.

So today you have a plastic,

what we call a fascia

that covers the actual
bumper structure.

So there aren't
any exposed corners

or exposed features that
a brush could catch.

- [Narrator] And
let's not forget

these old inflexible
side mirrors.

The spinning side brushes

could break them
right off the car.

- Structure of the mirror is
absolutely something that we

consider and we design for
in the car wash environment.

We have three connection points.

This provides a
three point base.

That's the strongest
base that you can have.

You always wanna have kind
of a tripod type design.

And then on the exterior,

we have a molded in plastic
base and housing that covers the

actual physical
structure of the mirror,

but both of these elements

are designed so that
it won't fracture,

it won't move, won't vibrate,

won't cause any problems
in the car wash.

- [Narrator] The
underbelly has its own

set of car wash obstacles.

- With the high pressure spray,

any of the components
under the vehicle,

especially wire harnesses
like we have here,

you wanna make sure
they're water tight.

These brake lines,

you can see they're tucked
in underneath the structure.

Then we have a plastic
protector to cover them as well.

We have plugs that come in here.

We have a sealant that
goes under the body.

Those are all designed
to protect against

conveyor systems,
high pressure spray,

make sure everything's
water tight and protected.

- [Narrator] Once
everything is assembled,

Hyundai tests their vehicles
inside their very own car wash.

The water pressure is intense.

It's nearly three times
that of a typical car wash.

- Shower test is where
theory meets practice.

There's 400 high pressure heads

that spray water on the vehicle,

and we wanna make sure
that everything is sealed,

there's no electrical shortages.

All the features that we
design into the vehicle

to protect against the
car wash environment,

this is where we judge

and make sure it's running
the way we want it.

- [Narrator] After a thorough
dry glove inspection,

the vehicle gets
the green light.

Good to go.

It's now safe to enter that
modern institution called

the car wash.

It may not make
your car go faster,

or get you better mileage,

but if cleanliness is
indeed next to godliness,

then all hail the car wash.

- Car ready!