Tina Chen

    A NATIONWIDE project to promote a water-saving car wash system launched yesterday at the China Hi-Tech Fair. The project is aiming to save about 60 million cubic meters of water by 2025.

    Controlled by computer, the system ensures accurate amounts of water are used to wash each car. It consumes only 20 percent of the water needed to wash a car with a conventional hose. The water used is then recycled.

    The time needed to clean one car has also been reduced to just three minutes. Four plants in Shenzhen are already using the system, each of which can save more than 13,000 cubic meters of water each year.

    Sheng Dailin, vice chief of the city’s water bureau, said: “Water resources in Shenzhen are very limited. Average water resources per capita are only one-tenth of the country’s average.”

    Promoting the system would be a good initiative for Shenzhen, as the city is expected to develop into a national model for water efficiency, Sheng said. About 10,000 plants across the country would be equipped with the system by 2025, he said.

    The project was awarded by the city government in 2007 as one of 37 key projects promoting sustainability.