How to Save by Reducing Your Hotel Water Bills

Dec 10, 12 | 12:04 am

By Scott Parisi

Several of the major hospitality brands have recently released reports detailing results of strategies implemented over the past few years to support hospitality sustainability. Overall the results are very positive. We have all heard from skeptical guests, clients, hotel owners and operators that the green hospitality movement would impact guest satisfaction.

Whether you run or own a small or large hotel, there are ways to save money by reducing your utility bill expenses. Water bills are a large part of the expenses incurred and it is prudent to ensure that you are not spending more than you need to. In hotels, water is an important commodity (like it is everywhere else) and it is used in guestrooms, conference rooms, banquet halls, spas, restaurants, kitchens and pretty much every other place. With so much water being used, you can safely assume that a large quantity of water is being wasted as well. With water charges increasing every day, it makes sense to curb water consumption and take a few smart steps to reduce your water bills and save money that can be utilized with better effect elsewhere in the hotel.

Repair First!

Before you set out to install new fixtures that will help reduce the hotel water bills, you need to ensure that the existing mechanisms are working at an optimum level. This means fixing even the smallest leak in any of the rooms of the hotel. Sinks, tubs, and showers are potential leak prone areas and studies show that even a single water leak can result in over 40 gallons of water wastage every single day! Check if you need to repair any of the existing fixtures in your hotel such as malfunctioning flapper and flush valves.

Our Energy Solutions Division at EcoGreenHotel is analyzing hotels every day and we have found some serious leaks. Most of the time we are aware of leaks due to closely monitoring utility bills on a monthly basis and constantly measuring trends. In the past few months we have found leaks in the back of washers dumping hundreds of gallons into trench drains. We have found leaks at backflow preventers and broken sprinkler heads just to name a few.

Be a Water Miser!

The words "water miser" do not have any negative connotations! What you will be doing is saving expenditures on water bills and undertaking conservation measures to aid the environment. If the hotel staff does not know how much water is being wasted, chances are high that they will do nothing to aid the conservation of water. Many hotels have introduced incentives for staff members who consciously help conserve water and bring about a reduction in water bills. Measuring and paying attention to trends can save plenty of water.

Adding New Devices and Fixtures

Out of the total amount of water used in any hotel, statistics show that more than 41 percent of water is used for regular domestic use in restrooms, guestrooms, toilets, and urinals! There have been many advances in water technology in the last few years. In the past, toilets and urinals were designed to use about 3 gallons and sometimes more for every single flush! With new devices and low volume conservation measures, you will find that the newest toilets function with only 1.6 gallons of water per flush while urinals manage with just 1 gallon per flush. Dual flush commodes are available that utilize as low as .08 gallons per flush for liquid waste. You will not be compromising on quality or cleanliness by using these low volume models because they are designed with a specific purpose in mind and that is, to efficiently save as much water as possible and still complete their task.

There's more… Read the full article "How to Save by Reducing Your Hotel Water Bills" on the Hotel News Resource website