After being forced to shut down operations following Home Office directives to rationalize the use of drinking water, car wash owners began looking for alternative ways to circumvent the shutdown. They are thus counting on the interaction of the competent authorities with the many proposals put forward in this direction in different regions of the Kingdom.
The closure decided by the public authorities water emergency » obliges, has aroused numerous criticisms, due to the absence of allocation or compensation for the benefit of professionals in the sector, while the same authorities turn a blind eye to agricultural areas which consume phenomenal quantities of water.
In a letter addressed to the governor of the region of Marrakech-Safi, the Association of owners of car washes in Marrakech proposed the fixing of a reasonable quantity of water imposed on all washing units considering that the total shutdown has very serious consequences for professionals.
In this sense, the association is committed to carrying out awareness campaigns in Marrakech and the surrounding area, in order to encourage station owners to reduce their dependence on drinking water as much as possible.
In its correspondence, the Association explained that “the car washes consume only 5 to 7 liters of water per car, due to their use of a raw material composed of a special soap imported from abroad, which facilitates washing and reduces water consumption up to 70% ».
Solicited by MoroccoLatestNewsBouazza Kherrati, president of the Moroccan Federation of Consumer Rights (FMDC), estimated that “ closing car washes is not a solution, but rather a tinkering that harms the weakest link in the system and also harms the consumer and water conservation”.
Commenting on this decision, Kherrati stressed the need to go beyond this approach, and to grant loans to professionals, for example, in order to change and develop their equipment, noting that “sif the citizens do not find car washes, they will take out their hoses, and that is a greater waste”.
The consumer rights campaigner felt that “ water saving requires a clear national policy and control of institutions that consume water in abundance, by outright creating a Water Council ».
And to conclude that it is necessary get to the heart of the matter and monitor who is really consuming Morocco’s water wealth”.
As a reminder, due to the water stress that the country is experiencing, the Ministry of the Interior sent a circular at the end of July to all the walis of the regions and governors of the prefectures, provinces and district prefectures, to implement the actions necessary for the rational management of water resources and guarantee the supply of drinking water to the population.
These actions consist in particular of the application of restrictions on the water flows distributed to users, the prohibition of the watering of green spaces and golf courses from conventional water (drinking water, surface water or underground water), the prohibition of washing on public roads and places with drinking water, the prohibition of illicit water withdrawals from boreholes, wells, springs, watercourses and transport canals of the water, filling public and private swimming pools once a year. These swimming pools must be equipped with a recycling system and finally a ban on the use of drinking water for washing vehicles and machinery.
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