6 June 2013

On May 24, 2013, Brio, a Sherbrooke-based business, launched a brand new revolutionary car wash. Its designers call their innovation the first smart car wash in the world.

Formerly known under the Domax Group banner, Brio’s co-founders Maxime Surprenant and David Demers decided to transform a process that wastes a great deal of water into an environmentally-friendly one.

In fact, contrary to traditional car washes, which use an average of 300 litres of drinking water to wash cars, the Brio car wash recycles 95% of the water flow, most of which is supplied by rainfall, except in periods of drought. Prefabricated to minimize construction waste, this new self-sufficient car wash is supplied by an automatic start-stop system that shuts off when it is not being used.

More than three years of research and development were required to develop this brilliant concept. Previously based in Montérégie, the entrepreneurs had to deal with problems that almost caused them to call off everything. In 2011, Chloé Legris, Director of the Clean Technology Key Sector of Sherbrooke Innopole, met with them and convinced them to set up shop in Sherbrooke, where they received technical and financial support to implement their project.

Not only is the Sherbrooke-based company installing its first smart car wash in Magog, but it is also planning to develop a network of about a dozen smart car washes in Québec and Ontario by 2014 and then carve out its niche in the United States in 2015. It is also safe to bet that one of these gems will open soon in Sherbrooke.

Source: La Tribune