Permit Watch #6: Nashville, TN — Your Driveway Wash Is Legal, a Paid Wash's Water Is Not

Permit Watch #6: Nashville, TN — Your Driveway Wash Is Legal, a Paid Wash's Water Is Not

PERMIT WATCH #6: Nashville, TN — $5,000 a day. That's the top of the civil penalty for letting wash water reach the storm drain — and the city's rule draws a hard line between washing your own car and washing one for pay.

Nashville has no permit cap and no mobile-wash permit. The ceiling is a discharge rule. Under Metro Code Title 15, Chapter 15.64, Section 15.64.205, all non-stormwater discharges into community waters, the waters of the state, or the city's storm sewer system are prohibited and unlawful. The section lists twenty discharges that are permitted — and the only car washing on the list is item 16, "Individual residential car washing." Your own car, your own driveway. A paid mobile wash is not on that list.

Metro Water Services' own guidance for pressure washing and car washes spells out what to do instead: pre-plan the job, locate the storm drains, block them if needed, and direct wash water to a grassy area, the sanitary sewer, or a capture-and-collect system — never the storm drain. The guidance is blunt about it: "Never let dirty pressure washing water enter the Storm Drain! It is an illicit discharge and you can be fined!"

Fixed sites face a second hurdle. Since 2006, a car wash outside Nashville's industrial districts is allowed only in a Specific Plan district adopted by the Metro Council — a rezoning, not a routine permit. It is permitted by right only in the IWD, IR and IG industrial districts.

The penalty is civil, not criminal: not less than $50 and not more than $5,000 per day for each day of violation, each day a separate violation.

What it means in practice: a mobile washer working in Nashville needs a capture-and-dispose setup — containment and recovery, then a grassy area where the water can infiltrate, the sanitary sewer (only if no chemicals were used and there's no oil sheen, with the owner's permission), or a waste hauler — never the storm drain. If the wash water has a visible oil sheen, it needs to go through an oil/water separator first. The homeowner's exemption does not travel with the washer. For the basics of where wash water is allowed to go, see Compliance Week Day 1: Where Your Wash Water Is Allowed to Go, and for the containment gear that keeps it out of the drain, see Compliance Week Day 2: The Simple Containment Setup.

What to check before operating there: confirm your disposal route with Metro Water Services' NPDES office at (615) 880-2420 before taking jobs, and keep wash water out of the gutter even on a single-vehicle stop.

Source: Metro Code of Nashville and Davidson County, Title 15, Ch. 15.64, §15.64.205 — https://www.nashville.gov/departments/water/stormwater/pollution-prevention/illicit-discharge-ordinance

Informational only, not legal advice — verify with the city's permit office.