A Conservation Call to Action : Self-serve operator Bill Sartor urges industry toward certification

Self-serve operator Bill Sartor urges industry toward certification

By Tony Jones
01/14/2008

There is much to admire about Bill Sartor’s resume, but his lasting legacy in the carwash industry will likely be tied to water conservation and a blueprint to carwash certification standards. Sartor is general partner of four Washem Car Wash self-serve locations in San Antonio, but the former president of the International Carwash Association has become a sought-after drought-survival consultant, carwash diplomat and nationally recognized conservation leader.

With Phase IV drought conditions stifling operators in 55 southeastern counties, there is new industry urgency with regard to water conservation and reclamation. In addition, the spotlight is falling on a carwash water-saving certification program devised 11 years ago by Sartor and others in San Antonio.

Various outlines and guidelines using the San Antonio program as a model have been readily available on the Web sites of the International Carwash Association and many regional associations for years, but operators across the nation typically have not pushed local officials for the types of standards such programs would create until they are faced with severe operating restrictions.

Sartor is not surprised. He admits to being caught flatfooted in 1996 when San Antonio’s only water source, an underground aquifer, was diminishing at an astonishing rate of one foot per day. With operators facing a complete shutdown, Sartor and other owners formed a coalition of industries, raised $50,000 and hired lawyers to help save their businesses.

The certification program that was born from that adversity was the first real dialogue and partnership between city officials, water regulators and San Antonio carwash operators. Today, the certification model continues to flourish across several industries in the city, with the carwash program implementing additional standards beginning in January.

Ten years into its programs, the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) reported that San Antonio’s water consumption was the lowest per capita of any city in the West.

Sartor’s experience 11 years ago is eerily similar to the mobilization of carwash operators that occurred recently in Georgia and other areas of the Southeast. Sartor’s disappointment is that few have learned his valuable lesson and worked to implement water-saving certification programs before the threat of drought or severe restrictions.

“I see absolutely no difference whatsoever,” notes Sartor, comparing the current difficulties in the Southeast to San Antonio in 1996. “As carwash operators, we tend to be reclusive when it comes to the government and don’t take a proactive stance, even when we have the advantage.”

The advantage operators have, he says, is in being able to show proof of good stewardship and low water consumption as a means of conducting normal business. Carwash water use in San Antonio, for example, was estimated in 2005 at just 0.16 percent of the city’s total water consumption. Statistics released by the Georgia Coalition of Car Washes indicate that Georgia operators use just 0.14 percent of the state’s daily consumption.

The problem is that carwashing tends to be a hidden contributor until operators are forced to show burden of proof when they have been targeted for restrictions.

“Politicians aren’t interested in carwashes until they can ingratiate themselves to the voting public,” asserts Sartor. “We become a very easy target simply because we’re highly visible, when in fact we’ve been good stewards for a long time.”

Proactive Not Reactive

The way to combat that is by being proactive, working with water regulators and setting local standards for best business practices. When business looked bleak for San Antonio operators, Sartor realized the importance of engaging in the system and quickly established himself as a local leader and visionary.

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