Henry County, GA Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

Adopted by Ordinance No. 23-11 in November 2023, § 3-5-512 targets the highest water-use segment of the car wash industry: conveyor washes, where a vehicle rides a belt through a tunnel while the driver waits inside or outside the car. Any conveyor car wash permitted and constructed on or after January 1, 2011 must install an operational recycled water system, defined in the ordinance as a system that captures and reuses water previously used in wash or rinse cycles, and at least 50 percent of the water the facility uses must be recycled through that system.

The requirement applies regardless of whether the facility draws from a well or a public water source. The ordinance carves out three categories that never have to comply: conveyor car washes permitted or built before January 1, 2011; self-service car washes, where customers wash their own vehicles with spray wands and brushes; and in-bay automatic washes, where the vehicle stays parked in one bay while a machine moves over it rather than moving the vehicle through a tunnel on a conveyor. The section sits in the water and sewerage chapter's stormwater management article, reflecting the county's broader push to manage water quality and consumption described in that same subchapter's findings.