The Moroccan start up using less water for cleaning as drought tightens its grip

A historical drought in Morocco as water shortage leads to more and more restrictions. Since the beginning of August, washing your car with portable water is now prohibited in the Kingdom.

Well below the water scarcity threshold of 1,700 cubic meters per capita per year, according to the World Health Organization, Morocco is now rationing water. In the 1960s, water availability was four times higher at 2,600 cubic meters.

In Casablanca, the authorities are tightening controls on car washing stations, pushing many to close. The only exception for the moment are establishments that use water from wells. 

Faced with this situation, dry cleaning has become a priority. An alternative that offers the company Ewash and its founder Omar Bouziane a great opportunity. 

"The concept of Ewash is to democratize the washing without water, thanks to professional products that we use. Technically, we use a little water because some of them are mixed with water but we save an average of 150 liters of water per wash" saysOmar Bouziane; founder of Ewash. 

"One Ewash consumption is about 35 cl of water. In terms of image, it is the small bottle of water that we give with coffee. This is on a big consumption like a big four by four jeep. This is the amount of water that we use at Ewash and sometimes we wash 400 cars with." Bouziane added.

An ecological solution that many say is also very economical. The demand for this type of washing is starting to grow for many Moroccans particularly as the water risk gets extreme.

One of the customers described his experience. "This is my sixth experience of washing without water and I am always satisfied with the result. The current case, there is a water crisis, I suggest everyone to do the same". Karim said.

Africnews correspondent Hajar Toufik reports that in addition to developing a service that meets the climate challenges; the start-up EWASH says it has the ambition to expand throughout Morocco and even elsewhere including Senegal.

A July World Bank report on the Moroccan economy said the decrease in the availability of renewable water resources put the country in a situation of "structural water stress."