As the experts on Hotel Carpet Cleaning, we love to share articles on the hotel industry when we come across them. We read this article about water conservation we thought interesting and wanted to share.
Reprinted from Hotel News US
There is no questioning the statement that everything on Earth requires water to stay alive. But, have you ever thought that how much amount of water do we waste every day? Wasting water simply means that we are reducing its capacity to provide us with this essential need. Water is a limited resource available on Earth and the amount of water on Earth will remain the same forever.
The population growth puts pressure on water supplies and clean water is lessened by the pollution and contamination we build. By keeping the importance of water in mind, it seems shocking that many of us actually don’t care enough if the tap water is running out even when nobody is using it.
If we talk about the highest usage of water then after our homes, the only industry which comes to mind is hospitality. For a place, where hundreds of people are checking-in, the water usage ultimately rises. Hotels use a lot of water — for guest rooms, pools, landscaping, laundry and other uses. In total, this accounts for about 15 percent of total water use in US commercial and institutional facilities, according to the EPA.
Water deficiency is a known global problem, the demand for water projected to exceed supply by 40% by 2030. By the same year, half the world’s population will be living in areas of high water stress.
The hotels around the world are finding new ways to conserve water on the property. Let us look at some of the ways hotels are using in conserving water.
Soneva Resorts and Residences
At Soneva Resorts and Residences’ Soneva Kiri property in Thailand, the resort is “100% self-sufficient,” Said Arnfinn Oines, Soneva social and environmental conscience. The hotel has a water reservoir that gathers rainwater, as well as a desalination plant and an oxidation pond.
“In addition to the water reservoir, we have deep wells that provide us with water in the dry season. We also have a wetland that acts as wastewater treatment with final water output used for garden irrigation. In the Maldives, we have desalination plants for both of our properties. These are equipped with energy recovery devices to maximize water output per energy unit consumed.” Said Arnfinn Oines.
Water conservation has always been part of Soneva’s business model, Oines said. The company took steps to replace all drinking water with their own bottled water in 2008. Since then, Soneva has “saved about 1.5 million plastic bottles going to landfill.”
Hilton Hotels and Resorts
“Hilton has recycling systems in place at larger properties where gray water is recycled back into a machine, which catches about 85% of the greywater for reuse in laundry facilities”, said Randy Gaines, SVP of operations and new project development at Hilton.
“The company has also got machines that use beads instead of water, which is used in “50% of our laundries, which means you can wash your laundry with colder water and you use less water,” he said.
Some Hilton properties in South America have rainwater recapture systems in place. Aside from the big water-saving initiatives, Gaines said “water conservation really starts with the basics, such as asking guests to use towels more than once and to forego housekeeping services.”
“I’ve always said this: If you do the basics, you’re kind of halfway there,” he said, adding that the basics include low-flow shower heads and toilets.
Gaines said the “hang the towel” program has been very effective in terms of water conservation “because a lot of people are buying in.”
By taking big and small initiatives in the hotel, we can save much amount of water annually which will directly help the environment. Just like the upscale hotels Hilton and Soneva, every hotel should take a big step to make the world a better place to live for future generations.
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