Emirati entrepreneurs introduce water-saving car wash

Emirati entrepreneurs introduce water-saving car wash By Emmanuelle Landais, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Published: May 19, 2008, 00:17

Dubai: It might sound unbelievable, but it is indeed possible to wash your car with just five litres of water.

This new water-saving technology, a mobile, low-pressure cleaning unit, will be at motorists' fingertips within the next few months and was officially unveiled on Sunday at the Franchise Middle East Exhibition in Dubai.

Q2 General Cleaning Services, a new business initiative launched by budding Emirati businessmen promises to leave any vehicle clean and shiny by just spraying a fine mist of water over the bodywork, cleaning and polishing it.

It will not be able to remove any caked on mud or filth but fine dust and dirt will be tackled easily, said Gustavo Ayus, president of Geo Wash, business partner of Q2 and initiator of the device.

"We started using this in Argentina 6 years ago and already it's present in over 30 countries across Europe and the Americas," said Ayus.

The system, a small manoeuvrable buggy, is made up of a 60 litre capacity water tank, hose, brushes, a vacuum cleaner and storage for biodegradable detergents.

Around 35 mobile car wash carts will be available across the country. Hotels and malls are being more heavily targeted to provide this service, said Abdullah Al Shahi, general manager of Q2.

"People are worried about time and sometimes cannot get to the carwash. This will save people a lot of time. Especially local ladies who do not go to the car wash, but they go to malls - the service will be there for them," he said.

"There is a big market here for this service because there are so many cars. New, big cars. We also want to save water. People in the UAE should be aware that they need to be saving water."

Q2 will offer several packages not yet defined but starting from around Dh20. Car interiors and exteriors can be cleaned. "We hope to have 100 mobile car washes eventually," said Al Shehi.

The cleaning process will take around 20 minutes and uses only ecological products without chemicals. Once the wash is over the ground is not flooded with excess water, as there is none.

The average amount of water used per car is 5 to 6 litres. "Some people like to have their car washed everyday. There is a lot of dust and sand here," said Hamad Al Hammadi, deputy general manager of Q2 who himself washes his car 3 times a week.

How the q2 works

- Motorists will find mobile car wash carts in 35 locations initially ranging from hotels, malls, golf courses or supermarkets.

- A fine mist of water is sprayed over the car manually by an attendant.

- The car is cleaned with chemical-free detergents.

- An average of 5 litres of water is used to wash and rinse the car.

- The vacuum cleaner is plugged into the cart so the car can be switched off.

- It only takes 20 minutes to have clean vehicle.