Emissions from one badly maintained car can equal emissions from 25 well- maintained cars. Eating lunch in or walking to nearby a restaurant. Most people would say that pesticides or some other toxic compound is the most frequently found water pollutant in Fort Worth. But they would be wrong. More than 500 sites in the city have been tested by the Fort Worth Environmental Management Department and those tests consistently show detergents as the city's number one pollution problem in creeks and ponds.
Detergents are a serious environmental hazard and pose a very real threat to fish.
Detergents destroy the external mucus layers that protect the fish from bacteria and parasites and can cause severe damage to the gills. One ppm equals one drop of water in 13 gallons of water. Detergent concentrations as low as 5 ppm will kill fish eggs. Action has been taken by the city to eliminate detergents from our creeks. For instance, a special permit requiring all wastewater be redirected to the sanitary sewer is necessary for commercial car washes.