Peshawar’s car wash business consumes about 20m litres clean water every day

Kamran Ali

Peshawar: “Not just the name of the vehicle, but the vehicle should be flashy and shiny at all times,” said 27-year-old Malik Adil Zada of Peshawar. He visits the car wash station twice a week and “never thought about the amount of water used when washing a car”.

Adil Zada says, “The dust is clearly visible on the black car, while I often go for a walk with my friends and everyone’s cars are very clean. Therefore, I think it is necessary to wash the car and keep it clean and shiny.”

This problem is not only of Adil Zada but the managers of the car wash stations are also unaware of the quantity of water used for washing the car.

Manager Japan Car Wash Center, located on Charsadda Road, Irfanullah said,“On an average 20 cars are brought for washing every day.And the machine is run continuously for 30 minutes to use water at high speed to wash a car. However, there is no knowledge of the exact amount of water, as a lot of water flows away.”

Regarding water recycling, he said that the water used for washing cars flows into rivers and canals because there is no recycling machine or plant in any car wash centre in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, including Peshawar.

Because there is not enough space for car wash stations in which to install a recycling machine or plant, while the cost of recycling machine is also very high.

It is listed on the website of Automobile Industry Company of India that the cost of a water recycling plant for car wash is INR 200,000 and PKR 527,000. The company claims that 1,000 litters of water can be recycled daily through the plant.

According to a research by the US-based Water Research Foundation (WRF), recycled water cannot be used for drinking but it can be utilized for irrigation, agriculture, industrial cooling, car wash, landscaping, fire fighting and toilet flushing.

There are currently more than 1,500 car wash stations in Peshawar and each car wash station receives around 20 vehicles per day for washing, according to information gathered from various sources, including district administration, car wash stations, and Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar (WSSP).

According to a survey conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), each service station uses an average of 19,000 litres of water every day.

While, as per the WSSP report, an average of 16,000 litres of water per day is used but this water is wasted due to lack of a recycling system.

Water scarcity is a major challenge in Pakistan and at the current rate, Pakistan may face drought by 2025; as per UNDP report.

Pakistan’s population has grown five times since 1960 and with the present 30-day water storage capacity, up to 200 million people may face “absolute scarcity” of water. Since each person will only have access to 500 cubic metres of water by 2025.

According to the data presented by Ministry of Water Resources to the Senate this year,the underground water is rapidly decreasing in 28 districts of KP, of which the water level is dangerously low in five districts. In the last decade, the groundwater level has dropped by 25 to 74 feet.

According to the document, the five most affected districts are as follows:

District	Underground Water Level (feet)
Khyber	74
Haripur	62
Mohmand	57
Bajaur	26
Kurram	26

Source: Ministry of Water Resources

Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) Research Officer Dr.Muneeb Ur Rehman said that treated or harvested water (rainwater) is used for car wash and tankers are kept to store it. Because ground water or sweet water (daily water) is not used for car wash anywhere in the world.

“But in Pakistan, the process of washing vehicles with the same water continues without any thought due to which the underground water level in Peshawar is falling by 5 feet per year,” he added.

Dr Muneeb claimed that if proper instruments are used at appropriate places to check the decrease in water level then the results of 10 feet drop in water level per year will come out.

“Due to a rising trend toward steam cleaning, water usage is also quite low in the Middle East. Because it saves up to 90 per cent water and cleans the car more efficiently than water,” Research Officer informed.

Shafeeq Gigyani, who works on the Peshawar Water Initiative Project, believes that there is a risk of water pollution from the water flowing from the car wash centres. Because the vehicles contain oil, grease, hydrofluoric acid, detergents, and other ingredients; and then putting the same water directly into the drainage channels is causing water pollution.

“Water has no importance and value because it is free. As a result, the government should fully outlaw personal boring in addition to installing metres at every car wash facility to monitor the amount of water utilised. Because people who utilise water from private bores are not being questioned which could prove to be highly dangerous in the future,” Gigyani urged.

University of Agriculture Peshawar Professor Dr Inamullah recommended that billing system, small dams and small reservoirs near cities should be built to control the excessive water use.

“In Japan, there are two separate bills for water used in kitchen and washroom, but no one is willing to provide a single bill in Pakistan, for which strict legislation and measures are the need of the hour,” Professor said.

The billing system, small dams and small reservoirs near cities should be built to control the excessive water use: Dr Inamullah

WSSP Spokesperson Hasan Ali mentioned, “WSSP had made monthly bill mandatory for car wash centres (consumers) who get water through personal boring. However, the Peshawar High Court has ruled in favour of the owners and stopped the WSSP from receiving the bill.”

He said that after the decision of the High Court and the establishment of the Water Commission and Authority established under the KP Water Act 2020, car wash centres do not come under the jurisdiction of WSSP.

However, WSSP has suggested to the Local Government Department that meters should be installed at all car wash centres which can calculate the water consumption in litres and then a billing system should be implemented on the owners of car wash centres based on that measure.

Minister of Local Government of KP Faisal Amin Khan said, “In the light of the Peshawar High Court’s orders, the Department of Local Government and Law has prepared proposals after consultation with all stakeholders. In a few months, the implementation of the law will be started with the approval of the Cabinet and then the Assembly.”

The provincial government also passed the KP Water Act in 2020 for the protection, control and management of water.

If any person is found responsible for wilful wastage of water and if they fail to take measures to remedy the water loss within ten days, any water supply company or institution is authorized to cut off their water supply under Section 21C of the Act.

The Section 25 of the same Act states that if a person is found guilty of the aforementioned acts, he can be fined up to PKR 100,000.

KP Irrigation Department Chief Engineer and KP Water Resources Authority Director General Nasir Mahfouz said that he is the only member of the authority because it does not yet have a formal structure.

Therefore, a draft of the authority’s structure will be prepared and submitted to the Water Commission soon. Following approval, the appointments will be carried out.

“However, the implementation of the Water Act 2020 will take time because it is crucial that citizens first become aware of it. Because no one will be willing to recognise the existence of the Water Authority until there is public awareness about it,” he further added.

Why is no one concerned about the value of clean water used in car washing?