New power from the sun Knauber builds new car wash in Bonn's Weststadt

Bonn · Knauber's new car wash replaces the former one on Karlstrasse in Bonn. Washing cars is apparently a good business: there are many providers in the Bonn.

 On the building site: Managing Director Holger Laugisch (left) and Johannes Paßmann, Head of Purchasing and Service Stations at Knauber Mineralöl GmbH.

On the building site: Managing Director Holger Laugisch (left) and Johannes Paßmann, Head of Purchasing and Service Stations at Knauber Mineralöl GmbH.

Foto: Benjamin Westhoff

Knauber's new project is planned as a clean affair - for the environment, too. The nationwide energy provider has demolished its old car wash on Karlstrasse and is building a new one. The facility in the immediate vicinity of the combined heat and power plant is being built to meet ecological standards: energy needs will be covered by green electricity (467 square metres of photovoltaic system), the wastewater will be collected and mostly recycled, the waxing agents used will be biodegradable, and there will be fast-charging stations, so-called hyperchargers, for e-cars.

Mainly recycled water

"We feel committed to people and the environment. That's why this sustainable planning fits our corporate concept," says Holger Laugisch, Managing Director of Knauber Mineralöl GmbH. Besides saving energy, the responsible use of water is part of a sustainable concept. That's why at Knauber, about 85 litres of the 120 litres of water needed on average for a car wash will be treated wastewater.

The scaffolding on the site only gives a vague idea of what the car wash will one day look like. But a lot has been done underground in the past weeks. Huge basins have been sunk into the ground where the wastewater is collected and treated. Above ground, the car wash is being built on an area of around 2200 square metres, including covered self-service car wash boxes for exterior and interior cleaning. In addition, there will be a 200-square-metre wash tunnel (similar to a car wash) with two portals: in the first area, the vehicle will be washed, in the second it will be dried. The cars will not be transported on a conveyor belt but controlled by the driver. Around 20 vehicles can be processed there per hour.

Knauber says it is investing a total of around three million euros. If everything goes according to plan, the first drivers will be able to get their vehicles washed as early as this summer. "We are sure that our new car wash park will be accepted by many Bonn residents," says Laugisch. The company had put the old self-service car wash into operation in the early 1980s as one of the first in the region. "We are simply continuing our tradition," adds the managing director.

The car wash will be open from 6 am to 10 pm. Knauber hopes that this means there won’t be traffic jams on the already very busy access roads even during rush hours. In addition, more staff are to be deployed when there are a lot of customers. "In this way, we want to better coordinate and optimise the processes," assures Laugisch.

Mr. Wash cleans 2200 cars a day at peak times

The competition in Bonn is quite formidable. In addition to the many car washes at filling stations, there are large providers such as Top Wash in Pützchen (Am Weidenbach) and in Dransdorf (Wolfgang-Paul-Straße), or the self-service car wash centre Boxenstopp in Bad Godesberg (Mainzer Straße), which is also heavily frequented by customers from nearby Remagen.

The Mr. Wash chain has also been operating its two-storey car wash on the corner of Bornheimer Strasse and Brühler Strasse for a good 13 months. The management there could hardly have wished for a better start in Bonn. "We are very, very satisfied," is how branch manager Stephanie Meißner describes the first year in the city.

It is not only private individuals who regularly have their vehicles spruced up at Mr. Wash, says Meißner. "The many car dealers in the neighbourhood also come," she reports. Even the police, craftspeople and the public sector have their fleets washed and polished on Bornheimer Straße. There was a particularly large number of customers in mid-March, when the so-called "blood rain" drove many a motorist up the wall. At that time, Stephanie Meißner recalls, the staff washed around 2200 vehicles in just one day.

Original text: Gabriele Immenkeppel

Translation: Jean Lennox

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