NEWS 7
Washing cars with rainwater
Based on the view that every company has an obligation to constantly increase sustainability efforts , WeBuyCars has installed a rain-harvesting system to wash thousands of vehicles , thus dramatically reducing its reliance on municipal water .
The initiative , which was piloted in February 2018 after moving into new premises in Midstream , Gauteng , has subsequently been rolled out at Silver Lakes ( Pretoria East ), Brackengate ( Cape Town ) and Phumela Park ( Cape Town ).
It means that the branches where rain-harvesting systems have been installed are completely self-sufficient and can stay completely off the water grid during the rainy season .
“ Our primary objective is to harvest as much water as possible during the rainy season . Simply put , we have water reservoirs connected to the downpipes from the gutters so all water from the roofs flows into the reservoirs . These connect to the high-pressure system in the wash bay via a pressure pump that helps force the water into the system ,” says John Mills , chief operating officer at WeBuyCars .
He says the water is 100 % safe to use for car washing and an integrated filtration system makes sure no dirt contaminates the water . The company aims to have 120 000 litre storage available at each branch , which means approximately 18 000 cars can be washed each rainy season . and we would like to think that we are ahead of curve in our sector ,” Mills says .
Asked about the application of grey water as a further development , this would happen in Cape Town where they are working with Atterbury in one of their developments . PA
A row of tanks being filled by one roof fall .
All images : © Plumbing Africa | Rory Macnamara
“ It ’ s difficult to pinpoint how much we have saved in municipal water costs as prices vary from district to district . But this was not about saving money – our goal was to be cognisant of our responsibility as a business to save as much water as possible without compromising our standards . Anyone who has visited one of our warehouses will know that every car is gleaming , so we needed to maintain those standards while upping our contribution to sustainability .”
“ Companies need to take a stance on renewable energy and saving resources . For us , the most obvious element pointed to water saving
Roof fall .
July 2021 Volume 27 I Number 5 www . plumbingafrica . co . za