Carwashes Reap a Bounty From Drought, Medfly

The twin scourges of life in Southern California this summer--the worsening drought and continued malathion spraying--are proving to be a bounty for at least one sector of the economy: carwashes.

Sticky malathion sprayed from the skies over much of Southern California to combat the Mediterranean fruit fly has driven business up at carwashes by an estimated 20% to 40% as drivers wash their cars after each spraying, carwash operators report.

And as California communities consider water rationing and other curbs on household consumption in the fourth year of drought, more residents are expected to turn to the local carwash as they try to cut water use at home.

Carwashes also have received a boost from Metropolitan Water District officials, who through their literature are encouraging car owners to go to a carwash rather than washing cars on their own.

Sam Kennedy, owner of a Placentia carwash, posts his water bills for customers to see. One recent bill showed Kennedy used 217,000 gallons of water in a month. “But I washed 14,000 cars,” consuming about 15 1/2 gallons of water for each car, Kennedy said.

Water officials say that carwashes, despite their conspicuous use of water, actually consume a small fraction of water per wash of what the average motorist would use with a hose and bucket in the driveway.

“We are not the problem, we are part of the solution,” said Roger Woodyard, president-elect of the California Car Wash Assn. But carwashes “have the misfortune of being very visible” users of water, which leads to some misconceptions, he said.

So carwash operators are taking the offensive, hoping to capitalize on their efficient use of water to lure patrons and stave off any possible restrictions on access to water supplies during the drought.

Gary Wimmer, who operates a dozen carwashes in the Southland, has a series of posters and banners in his Eagle Rock area carwash that proclaim, “Because we care, we recycle up to 85% of our water.”

Industry officials estimate that there are about 1,000 to 1,500 carwashes in Los Angeles County, each handling 12,000 to 18,000 cars a month. That means an estimated 18 million cars will be washed in Los Angeles County in each of the coming hot summer months when residents are being asked to cut water consumption by 10%. Statewide there are an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 carwashes, about 10% of all carwashes in the nation.

Not all carwash owners are convinced that they are about to reap a windfall. But the numbers seem to support those operators who see a substantial increase in business around the corner.

There are more than 24 million registered vehicles in the state, and “even in a drought, people will still wash their cars,” said Wimmer. “People like clean cars.”

Especially people like Pat Sukove, a chiropractic assistant from North Hollywood, who was having her red Acura Integra cleaned at the Panorama Car Wash last week. “I bring it in every week, sometimes twice a week. I can’t afford not to take care of it. I waited a long time for this car, it’s my pride and joy,” she said.

The enthusiasm Californians have historically displayed for their vehicles will make it tough to break habits such as Sukove’s, said Mark Dymally, a senior water district analyst who works with water-sensitive industries.

The giant MWD has called on Southern Californians to cut water use this summer by 10%, and has encouraged 300 communities to adopt water-conservation laws, including encouraging residents to use carwashes.

“A lot of it is symbolic,” Dymally said about the effort to steer motorists to carwashes. “But we shouldn’t minimize the symbolism. We already know that water use is inelastic. By that I mean if we raise your water rates by 25%, you won’t cut use by 25%. So the important thing is behavior modification.”

If Californians can’t be persuaded to drive dirty cars, they at least can be directed to the most efficient means of cleaning them, Dymally said.

“Since the drought of 1977, these guys have improved their efficiency immensely,” Dymally said about carwash operators.

In the past 10 to 15 years most of the state’s carwashes have installed high-pressure, low-flow water jets to reduce the total amount of water used, and have adopted recycling systems to capture and reuse the water.

Operators say they turned to recycling as a simple matter of economics. “As businessmen, carwash folks feel very strongly about water because it is the lifeblood of their industry,” said Sam Olivito, executive director of the California Carwash Assn., an industry trade group.