Drought Meeting - Media Coverage

This date was initially set as a PWNC meeting. Since that time, there has been conflicting media coverage and slightly badly worded broadcasts and publications regarding the circumstances in areas.

This meeting, although arranged by PWNC associates, is NOT about the PWNC anymore. It's about changing how the media, government officials, the public in general view what we do, how we do it and most importantly, that we still CAN perform services. The PWNC has contacted our state news channel who has indicated that they would like to be at the meeting. We have also obtained sponsorship for the lunch.

It is vitally important to attend this meeting if you want to help. The date is Saturday, March 1st at 1:00. We will be announcing the location within the next couple of days. There are pre-registration forms located both on the PWNC site as well as on Contractor Events.

We also want to encourage everyone who is interested in this meeting, or participating with the PWNC, to please go to the PWNC site and sign up for the newsletter. Over the coming months, as restrictions change and the season gets closer, this will be a very good way to keep up. It is a goal of the PWNC to stay on top of situations as they happen and keep you informed.

Thank you.

I work in the middle of the drought situation. Something I brought up on another thread on another site to keep things in perspective. Someone was talking about using rainwater as a water supply in his house (he does this). He said his area averages 31 inches of rainfall a year, that is enough to supply his needs. I started doing a little research. Georgia averages 50 - 60 inches of rainfall per year, 2007, the second driest year on record we got 32 inches, an inch more than this guy averages! So here we are, running out of water but were still getting more than this guy does in an AVERAGE year. Things that make ya say hmmmmmmmmm.

March 1st Meeting

The meeting in Raleigh was enormously productive. With both newspaper and TV coverage, the PWNC has now set the wheels in motion for more widespread recognition of our network and entire industry. One of the clips filmed yesterday can be seen here: http://news14.com/content/local_new...ssure-washers-fight-drought-woes/Default.aspx. A second clip will be visible on the PWNC site later today along with a dozen new businesses.

Plans are being made for a subsequent movement that will be worthy of more coverage later this month. We are also working on a high profile project that we hope to be able to announce in the coming weeks.

Anyone wishing to participate with the PWNC or just for further information, please email us at info@pwnc.org. You can also call 336-516-2242, which is the dedicated number for this network.

Thank you all for your support.

This is a step in the right direction; We all need to support this as and industry.

We need to ban together and support the correct media coverage across the entire country on this drought effort.

The media the public do not understand that pressure washing alone is a conservation method of cleaning.

Pressure washers use less water and cleaning units are greater, thus creates a perfect method for water saved and not wasted by the normal cleaning procedures.

www.pressurewashinginstitute.com promotes PWNC and affiliates in efforts to teach and educate consumers and news media on these water saving procedures.


In the furture PWI and its associates will Support contractor Events in its endevor to educate the public and fellow contractors.

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/976791.html


Power washers bash water rules
Owners say drought ban unfair, compare work to hair salons, car washes

At a job site off Business Park Drive in East Raleigh, Johnny Rist, left, helps Zeb Hadley transfer 525 gallons of water to Hadley's truck. Rist gets water from a metered hydrant in Cary, takes it to pressure-cleaning businesses in Raleigh.
Staff Photos by Robert Willett
Anne Blythe, Staff Writer
GARNER - Add power washers to the stream of businesses feeling beleaguered by the protracted drought and restrictions aimed at conserving water.
More than two dozen pressure washers gathered Saturday to talk about how to battle an image problem that has hampered their business. They say their work, blasting high-powered streams of water to clean building exteriors, construction sites and other outdoor places, is misunderstood as a waste of water.
Car washes, they complain, can use city water in Raleigh while they cannot.
"The pressure-washing industry was ... one of the first professions to have our livelihood restricted without anyone clearly understanding exactly how much we give to our cities and towns," Celeste Gothorp said at the first Power Washers Network of the Carolinas meeting. "Pressure washing should not be regarded as a luxury, but a necessity."
The business owners who met at Xterior Sales and Service agreed to call and e-mail legislators, city officials and others with a new spin on their industry.
Power washers, they say, remove graffiti that violent gangs use to communicate. They help keep streets and sidewalks clean and wash away mold and mildew that can lead to health problems.
"Does it affect your health to have dirt on your car?" Gothorp asked. "Is it a matter of safety to have your hair washed in a salon?"
A certification program adopted by Raleigh allows professional car washes to use up to 55 gallons of drinking water on a single vehicle. Power washers say an entire 2,000-square-foot house takes about 250 gallons to clean.
The power washers took jabs at Pepsi Bottling Ventures, which uses Raleigh city water in soda and Aquafina. They also complained that local governments had not expanded water resources to keep up with the boom in residential growth.
"The public just needs to be educated," said Edward Leigh, a power washer in Wake County.
Some washers put well-water signs on their trucks in communities where drinking water cannot be used. They assure customers they are not breaking rules when they arrive with well water or city water from such places as Cary, which has less severe restrictions.
Raleigh prohibits using potable water to wash sidewalks, patios, decks, driveways, parking lots, and buildings, except for soiled areas for the maintenance of public health and sanitary conditions.
Tougher water-use restrictions went into effect in Chapel Hill and Carrboro on Saturday, including a power-washing ban similar to Raleigh's.
Pressure washers say they think the government bans are misleading, because they don't note that some businesses truck in water drawn from wells or municipalities with no restrictions.
Although some municipalities have begun to offer reclaimed water -- or disinfected waste water -- as an option for some outdoor use, pressure washers say there are too many restrictions on where and how it can be used to help them much.
The power washers were so fed up they talked about calling all big rigs to circle through the capital in protest.
anne.blythe@newsobserver.com or (919) 932-8741

http://news14.com/Video/video_pop.aspx?vids=63790&sid=512&rid=94

Video Clip

Pressure washers fight drought woes
Updated: 03/02/2008 11:06 AM
By: Deborah Tuff
RALEIGH -- The Power Washers Network of the Carolina's say they want to set the record straight.



"We are stewards of the environment, we are stewards of the water and we are responsible business people," said business owner Peter Marentay.



Marentay drove from Summerville, South Carolina to attend a PWNC meeting in Raleigh.



With the drought forcing many cities like Raleigh into water restrictions, pressure washers say it’s wearing on their business.



"People don't understand that we can bring our water from other sources," said Ralph Moore who owns a pressure washing business just outside of Zebulon but does most of his work in the Capital City.




The Power Washers Network of the Carolina's say they want to set the record straight. Sources like recycled water and well water, as well as low-flow water spickets.



"We can wash an entire house with as little as 200 gallons of water. We specialize in developing these techniques. This is something we developed over the last 10 or 15 years," continued Marentay.



And by using these techniques, pressure washers say they don't need to borrow from the dwindling supply of water in the state's most drought-stricken cities.



But they say in order to stay afloat -- what they need to do is to educate the public. Pressure washers say they've made attempts to work with cities in the Triangle to no avail. They've even been physically threatened by residents who believe they are wasting water.

Click to expand...

Another channel covers story and included is a film clip

You can see yet another clip that wasn't on their site on the PWNC News page. We're getting a collection with no intention of slowing down!