August 23, 2020

8 Water Conservation Methods for Hotels

Water use can be a big drain on a hotel’s bottom line if it’s not managed efficiently.

However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates hoteliers can cut their water use up to 30 percent by changing to water-saving  equipment and procedures.

While low-flow aerators in faucets, low-flow shower heads, and linen-reuse programs are becoming practically universal in the hotel industry, here are eight other measures hotels can implement to conserve water:

8 Tips

  1. Install meters to measure water consumption. To conserve water, you first have to know how much you use. Target the areas of greatest use first.
     
  2. Switch out older toilets for low-flow or high- efficiency toilets. Purchasing dual-flush low-flow toilets like the Gerber® Viper Dual Flush toilet, can further reduce consumption, as it gives guests the option of  0.9  gallons per flush (gpf) for liquid and 1.1 gpf for solid, making this toilet consume less than 1.0 gpf on average. This can equate to a 19 percent water savings over 1.28 gpf models and more than 70 percent over older traditional 3.5 gpf models.
     
  3. Keep on top of equipment maintenance. A single faucet leaking one drip per second can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water a year.
     
  4. Do your homework. When it comes to replacing fixtures in guest bathrooms with water-saving ones, don’t just choose the cheapest option. If they don’t work well, you’ll pay for your mistake with unhappy guests who flee your property.
     
  5. Look for WaterSense labeled products when replacing plumbing fixtures. These products meet the EPA’s specifications for water efficiency and performance, and have been independently certified to be at least 20 percent more efficient than standard models, and perform as well or better.
     
  6. Educate kitchen staff on proper dishwasher prep and loading techniques to reduce the overall amount of water used, and run only full loads through dishwashers and washing machines.
     
  7. Use drought-tolerant plants in your landscape to reduce irrigation costs, and schedule watering at times when the least amount of water will be lost to evaporation.
     
  8. Put rain sensors on outdoor sprinkler systems to ensure there is no unnecessary use of water.