By Melody Hanatani
Daily Press Staff Writer

CITYWIDE Using water to rinse off car wash solution is so yesterday, especially in Santa Monica.

City Hall is awaiting word on whether the Metropolitan Water District will award an estimated $123,000 grant that would be used to purchase waterless car wash products to clean off its fleet of automobiles as well as vehicles for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

“As part of the Sustainable City Plan, we’re supposed to reduce water by 20 percent by 2010,” said Kim O’Cain, the water resources specialist for City Hall. “My sole job is to save water.”

The announcement of the grants is expected to come in April, O’Cain said.

One of the contenders who hopes to supply City Hall is Los Angeles-based Lucky Earth Inc., which developed a chemically-free waterless car wash, creatively called “Waterless.”

If City Hall wins the grant in the spring, the product will also be offered to the Santa Monica Lexus and Toyota dealerships, both of which have expressed interest in sustainability and in greening their businesses, O’Cain said. All of the public schools in Santa Monica will also have access to the product, which would be encouraged for school car wash fundraisers, O’Cain said.

Mar Vista couple Jeff and Lisa Peri developed the concept for the Lucky Earth car wash more than a year ago when they learned their oldest daughter Kayla was chronically ill with high fevers because she was sensitive to chemicals. The couple removed all chemicals from their home and started looking for a car wash product that was also chemical free.

“We decided to start making our own product for our own personal use and I asked my husband to find something waterless,” Lisa Peri said. “I was kind of half joking but my husband Jeff found tons of products that were waterless but all had chemicals.”

The Peris enlisted the help of a scientist and after a month and a half of tweaking, they came up with “Waterless.”

The product contains two different types of coconut, which emulsifies the dirt while the silicone encapsulates it into small balls, Peri said. The residue is wiped off with a microfiber towel, leaving the car free of new scratches.

The product had its retail debut in the Santa Monica Whole Foods store a few months ago.

Lucky Earth plans to open a waterless car wash across the street from the Santa Monica Airport on Bundy Drive next month, accommodating up to eight cars at one time. The car washes will range from $20 to $30, depending on whether a customer wants an interior detail.

One percent of all proceeds from the sale of “Waterless” go to Heal the Bay.

Before unveiling “Waterless,” Lisa Peri introduced the product to City Hall officials and even demonstrated it on the Santa Monica Pier last summer.

“My feeling was if the city wasn’t willing to at least say they thought the technology was good, why would the average person trust it,” Peri said.

O’Cain said she was skeptical of the product at first but was surprised by the results.

“It looked like it had been detailed,” she said.

melodyh@smdp.com