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GREEN: AVIS Saves 100 Million Litres Of Water Per Annum

 





Recent Gauteng Business News

AVIS has instituted a water management process which now saves up to 100 million in water a year. Water conservation is fast becoming a priority for business in South Africa but one company is leading the way when it comes to making a real difference.

Water is a precious resource in South Africa but it is still consumed in huge quantities by many industries and businesses. The car rental business for example consumes huge amount of water with around 8000 cars which have to be washed every day. In 2007, AVIS decided to upgrade its major facilities at Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban airports.

A decision was made to invest in equipment and processes that would reduce and recycle the water used to wash its vehicles, thereby conserving this precious resource.

AVIS consulted with Garage Equipment Services and sourced the most modern drive through machines which wash each vehicle in approximately 45 seconds using a method that eliminates water wastage.

Water Filtration Investment Reduces AVIS Car Wash Water Use


AVIS invested approximately R1.5million to construct water filtration and recycling facilities at its three main airport depots. The used “grey” water is channelled and filtered to be over 90% clean and is pumped back into the system to wash the AVIS vehicles. The only process requiring fresh municipal water is the final rinse arch at the end of the wash, ensuring that the vehicles come out spotless for final rental preparation. The final rinse water is also channelled into the recycling plant and in effect, the entire process reduces the AVIS car wash water use by 74%.

At Cape Town International Airport, there are significant periods of high rainfall so AVIS, at a cost of R400 000, also installed a 200 000 litre underground water reservoir. This captures the free and clean rainwater run-off from the roofs of its main buildings and then uses this to feed into the car washing and water recycling facility.

This AVIS water management process is just one of the many initiatives (such as carbon neutral status, hybrid cars and others) introduced to reduce their impact on South Africa’s water and other environmental resources, establishing the company as the “green leader” within the car rental industry.

The View of AVIS South Africa Over Water Scarcity


Wayne Duvenage, Chief Executive of AVIS South Africa has this to say about the project:

“It seemed logical that since South Africa is a water scarce country, the issue of water consumption and conservation should be the first to be considered. At AVIS we wash over 2500 vehicles per day. In 2007 in first examining our water usage at our main high volume vehicle cleaning facilities we realised that by installing high intensive water recycling technology we could reduce the amount of water used by 90%. That’s a reduction from over 200 litres to 20 litres per wash”.

When it comes to conserving the environment, AVIS really does try harder.

 
 
 
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