Sandy Springs, GA Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)

City Code Sec. 105-23, adopted by Ordinance No. 2013-05-05 on May 7, 2013, targets water consumption at commercial car wash facilities. It applies specifically to conveyor car washes, defined in the ordinance as facilities where a vehicle moves through a tunnel on a conveyor belt while the driver may remain inside or wait outside. Any conveyor car wash permitted and constructed after January 1, 2011 must install an operational recycled water system, defined as a system that captures and reuses water previously used in wash or rinse cycles, and that system must recycle a minimum of 50 percent of the water the facility uses.

The requirement attaches at the point of construction: it reaches every new conveyor wash built after the 2011 date regardless of what water source supplies it. The ordinance carves out three categories that fall outside its reach. Conveyor car washes permitted or built before January 1, 2011 are grandfathered and never have to retrofit a recycling system. Self-service car washes, where customers wash their own vehicles with spray wands and brushes, are excluded entirely. In-bay automatic car washes, where the vehicle stays parked in a single bay while a machine passes back and forth over it, are also excluded.

The section sits in Chapter 105, Article I of the City Code, in the same division that regulates other utility-related building requirements, including a separate provision requiring residential buildings to submeter water use by unit.