look for
Putting WaterSense® to Work
Car Wash Chain Drives Down Water Use
With Efficiency Upgrades
Sector: Vehicle Washing; Focus: Outdoor Water Use
Project Summary
With a city design that makes residents heavily dependent upon
personal vehicles, San Antonio, Texas, has more than 1,305,000 cars
on the road. If each of these cars visited a car wash nine times per year
(the national average per the International Car Wash Association), San
Antonio car washes would use approximately 880 million gallons of
water annually. H.E.B., a San Antonio grocery provider that also owns
commercial car washes, approached this issue as an opportunity to
increase efficiency and save both water and money at its car wash
facilities.
While a typical touchless car wash can use more than 100 gallons of
water per car, a water reclaim system and an effective reverse osmosis
(RO) unit can significantly decrease this amount. H E B. updated 24 of
its car wash facilities to include high-efficiency RO units and reclaim
systems. Through participation in the San Antonio Water System
(SAWS) Commercial Custom Rebate program, H.E.B. turned these
upgrades into permanent water savings, resulting in more than 24
million gallons of water saved annually.
Getting With the Program
In 2012, H.E.B. attempted to certify its car wash facilities as part of
SAWS' WaterSaver Car Wash Program. At that time, however, H.E.B.'s
facilities did not qualify for the program. This encouraged H.E.B. to
identify ways to improve water efficiency at its car wash facilities. Through its partnership with SAWS' Commercial
Custom Rebate program, H.E.B. received rebate incentives to help make the water-saving projects more
economically feasible in the short term. In addition, once water-saving technologies were installed, there were
also operational cost savings associated with less water use, decreasing the facilities' overhead cost of providing
car washes to costumers. To date, following upgrades made through the rebate program, 15 H.E.B. car wash
locations have become Certified WaterSaver Car Washes.
Reclaiming Water Efficiency
Reclaim systems take water used in the washing process, remove dirt in the
water, and reuse the filtered water in the next wash or in a subsequent rinse.
San Antonio city ordinance requires that 50 percent of water used in previous
wash rinses be used in a following rinse. The Commercial Custom Rebate program rewards car wash owners
who take saving water to the next level by providing rebates on new technologies that save water beyond the
minimum required by city ordinance. Working with the program, H.E.B. installed new reclaim systems at 13 of its
roNeT^e^i
EPA <2^
Highlights
•	Facility name: H E B. Car Wash
Facilities
•	Location: San Antonio, Texas
•	Facilities upgraded: 24
commercial car wash facilities
•	Water savings: Permanent
water savings of more than
24,000,000 gallons of water
annually
•	Cost savings: More than
$144,000 in annual water and
PHONE (866) WTR-SENS (987-/367) WEBSlTEwww.epa.gov/watersense EMAlLwatersense@epa.gov
A rQA EPA-832-F-1T-002A
WtlTr\ February 2017

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car wash facilities. The new systems saved an average of 30 gallons of
water per car, or more than 11 million gallons of water savings annually.
Revamping RO Units
RO units are another significant source of water use for car washes,
with high-efficiency upgrades having the potential for major savings. RO
units produce the water used in the final rinse to create a "spot-free"
finish. To produce this spot-free water, the RO units take municipal
water and use reverse osmosis technology to remove particulates and minerals that leave a blotchy finish when
the water dries. As RO units age, they become less effective, requiring additional gallons of water to generate a
single gallon of spot-free water. While measuring water consumption at their car wash facilities, H.E.B. found that
the RO units at some locations were no longer functioning efficiently. In 2014, H.E.B. again worked with the
SAWS Commercial Custom Rebate program to replace RO units in 11 facilities. In addition to upgrading the RO
units, one facility also installed a new reclaim system, and at a new car wash facility, a friction wash, reclaim
system, and new RO unit were installed. Overall, these upgrades saved 34 gallons of water for each car washed,
resulting in annual savings of nearly 13 million gallons of water.
Program Success
In addition to H.E.B., SAWS has worked with many other car washes within their service area as part of the
Commercial Custom Rebate program. To achieve water and costs savings, car wash facilities have switched from
touchless to friction car washes, installed new reclaim systems, installed new RO units, or combined all three
upgrades. These upgrades have resulted in annual water savings of more than 76 million gallons of water that
can be used to serve other customers in San Antonio.
Acknowledgements
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) WaterSense program acknowledges SAWS Conservation
Planner Brandon Leister for providing information for this case study.
Learn More
To learn more about water efficiency in commercial and institutional buildings, visit the WaterSense website at
www.epa.gov/watersense/commercial-buildings to access WaterSense at Work best management practices,
tools, case studies, and more. Best management practices related to SAWS' WaterSaver Car Washes Program
can be found at www.saws.org/Conservation/commercial/carwash/bmp.cfm.
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San
Antonio
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