Arizona is a hot and dry place in the summer. This combination of factors means that water conservation is sometimes necessary. In response, Arizona carwash operators are doing their part to save water by recycling it. Modern carwash water recycling equipment can reduce water use by as much as 50%. Although more expensive to install, these systems can pay for themselves in the long run. They also give an environmental marketing edge to commercial carwash operators. Additionally, water reclamation systems in commercial carwashes can actually use less water than hand-washing.

Tom Collins, a general manager with National Carwash Systems, says that local municipalities are increasingly asking carwash builders to install water reclamation systems when they build their carwashes:

Collins advises new car wash owners to, if they don’t install the full water reclamation system, at least install the piping required, because, in his mind, “it’s only a matter of time” before the system is required everywhere.

“There are a lot of local municipalities that are requiring them,” he said.

About 25 percent of new car washes have water reclamation systems, estimates Arizona-based car wash architect John Reddell, who planned Mercado Del Rio. He said more than half have just the initial piping system. [more...]

At the end of the day, carwash operators are finding that water conservation systems make sense for the environment and for the bottom line too.

Water restrictions in Australia require people either to wash their cars by hand without a hose or go to a commercial carwash. Water efficiency tests have shown that well-designed commercial carwashes use less water than washing cars with a hose. The end result is that local carwashes in Australia are seeing a significant increase in business.

Richard Holloway, a Queensland member of the Australian Car Wash Association’s executive committee, said car washes across the southeast corner had seen increases of about 20 per cent “pretty much across the board”.

“The industry certainly is getting a lot more cars through as a result of (the water restrictions) because people are not that interested in going through the process of washing their car with a bucket,” he said.

Mr Holloway, who runs the Carwash Headquarters at Ashmore on the Gold Coast, said all operators had to stick to new water efficiency management plans.

“In my case, we’ve put in a new water management system in the last four months and we’ll use two-thirds of the water this year than we did last year, even with the increase in business,” he said. [more...]

“We’re kind of environmentalists to start with,” Geoff Baker, owner of Easywash said. Located in Vancouver Canada, Baker calls his wash the world’s most eco-friendly car wash. [See Easywash in the news...]

After traveling across North American in search of environmentally friendly carwashes, Easywash was built according to environmentally-sustainable principles to conserve energy, water, and the environment.

Easywash touts an “automatic” dog wash and self-service bike wash. They’re also proud of a pre-paid carwash system that allows people to go through an Easywash without even getting out of their car. A customer simply pulls up to one of Easywash’s three bays where a computer system reads a tag on the inside of the car and opens the bay door.

Easywash hopes to install a hydrogen fuel cell in 2007 that will help power the car wash and heat water.

Read more about Easywash on the web at: http://www.easywash.com

Car wash owners Mike and Katie Opitz of Washington state make waves and satisfy customers by focusing on customer service, employees, and the environment.

“We’re not just any old car wash,” the retired Army lieutenant colonel said. “We want to take care of our customers, and we want to take care of our employees, too.” [more...]

Katie Opitz says she rewards employees for dedication by getting them gym memberships. In addition to taking good care of employees and customers, the Optizes also purchase their car wash soap from a Portland chemical dealer, Kaady Chemicals, who sells only biodegradable soaps. Though using biodegradable soaps ultimately means that the Opitz’s cost per wash is higher than many carwashes, they also can attract environmentally sensitive customers. By using recycled water in the prerinse cycles, the Wave Car Wash, conserves water as well. Katie Opitz is quick to point out that their car wash is more enviromentally sensitive than washing by hand because of the amount of water it saves.

Due to the success of their car wash, the Opitzes hope to eventually own five more carwashes.

Though their website is not up and running yet, it will eventually be found at: http://www.wavewash.com/