Yellow Hat turns green

The company treats and reuses about 70% of car wash water.

"This is the most advanced car wash technology in the world," says Yellow Hat's UAE general manager Graham Markwick.

This is particularly important in the UAE and the Gulf region where water resources are particularly scarce. In Dubai alone, average water usage per person amounts to 100 to 110 gallons each day compared to the global average of 41 gallons per day per person according to some researches.

And the UAE's carbon footprint is the biggest in the world on a per-capita basis, according to the World Wildlife Foundations. The USA runs second. Kuwait ranked fifth in the WWF report, behind Finland and Canada.

"Through this technology, we use far less fresh water than most conventional carwashes, restaurants, and other water users, and consequently send far less to municipal sewers," he says. "Because we use less fresh water, and clean the water before discharging non-recoverable volumes, this reduces immensely our burden on the municipal sewer systems."

With advanced purification, high speed filtration and separation, and the use of reverse osmosis treatment, Yellow Hat is able to clean vehicles more effectively as it can apply up to three times the volume of conventional car washes.

All Yellow Hat's cleaning solutions are tested and certified safe for employees and the environment, being 100% bio-degradable. Unlike many so-called bio-degradable detergents which degrade slowly, Yellow Hat formulations respond very quickly.

Car wash systems are also energy efficient, using sophisticated computerised controls with outputs adjustable to tiny fractions of an inch. "Yellow Hat pioneered the use in the car wash industry of variable frequency drives on electric motors to maximise energy conservation and reduce demand on the power grid," said Markwick.

"Our car wash sessions are also timed to the second, allowing unmatched speed and efficiency in UAE."

Yellow Hat is one of the world's largest chains of auto accessory superstore and service centres, with more then 500 stores throughout Asia and annual turnover topping $1bn. The Middle East's first Yellow Hat superstore opened in Times Square Centre on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai earlier this year, while the second centre was opened in Nad Al Hamar area last October.