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

17 sets design standards for Vehicle Washing Establishments in unincorporated Gwinnett County. Its central requirement targets new construction: all newly constructed conveyor car washes shall install a recycled water system which captures and reuses water used in the wash or rinse cycles, with the system required to recycle a minimum of 50 percent of the water utilized. That obligation attaches at the building-permit stage for a conveyor-style facility, meaning the Director of Planning and Development checks for the recycling system's design as part of plan review before construction, not as something added after opening.

The section's second sentence broadens the reach beyond conveyor washes: car wash facilities, including hand car washes, shall utilize floor drains connected to the sanitary sewer system for collection and proper disposal of all wastewater, so even self-serve bays and hand-wash operations that don't use a recycling loop still can't let wash water sheet across a parking lot or into a storm drain. Vehicle Washing Establishments sit in Chapter 211, the county's base non-residential zoning district standards, and are also subject to the underlying district's use permissions and any applicable buffer and screening rules for facilities adjoining residentially zoned property.

The requirement was adopted as part of the UDO rewrite, Ord. No. UDOA2023-00002, effective September 26, 2023, and applies countywide in the unincorporated area regardless of which non-residential district hosts the wash.