You simply can’t afford to keep ignoring your hotel water usage – not just for your profit margin, but also for the environment.
You’ve got a lot more than just rooms to manage. There are kitchens, multiple public and in-suite bathroom facilities, pools and hot tubs, laundry, cooling, heating, and landscaping. All of these places use incredible amounts of water, and if you don’t understand how quickly those water usage costs can add up, then your hotel could be missing out on some serious money. Learn how to reduce water usage, help save the environment, and potentially improve your bottom line in the process.
Wasted water means increased room fees, so you’re ultimately losing out on maximizing your hotel profits. Plus, there are environmental ramifications related to wasting all that water.
In the United States alone, hotel and other lodging facilities account for nearly 15% of all commercial and institutional water usage. That means that your hotel has a significant impact on the water usage in your city; therefore, the responsibility lies with you to make sure you run and maintain an efficient and environmentally friendly establishment.
These proven water-saving tips (among many others) save hotels thousands of dollars in water-related costs alone. For example, in 2008, Caesars Entertainment implemented its CodeGreen program across its 39 hotel properties to reduce overall water usage and preserve the environment. Between 2008 and 2013, Caesars saved 430 million gallons of water and approximately $1.5 million in water costs by tracking water use, communicating goals and progress, encouraging friendly competition, and implementing water efficiency improvements. Projects include towel and linen reuse programs, xeriscaping, installing tunnel washers, and replacing existing fixtures with WaterSense labeled models.
The bottom line: If you become as water savvy as possible with your hotel operations, you’ll learn how to save water in hotels, make more money, and help your local community keep their water costs down. It’s a win-win situation for everyone!
Where To Begin Cutting Hotel Water Usage
The first thing to do if you want to understand how to lower your water bill is to conduct a water audit. A water audit is a process to figure out how much water your business uses and exactly where it’s all going. Though the best way to get accurate results is to hire an energy consulting firm, you and your staff can do a general audit in-house. If you choose to conduct your own water audit, you should start by looking at two things: your previous water bills and your water meter(s).
Bills, Bills, Bills
If your bookkeeping is in order, you should have ready access to at least a year’s worth of water bills, and two or three years’ worth is even more helpful if you have them. This may be 12 bills annually or as few as two or four. Some municipalities bill water usage monthly, some bill once per quarter, and others twice a year.
Your water bill will generally be measured in cubic feet (or Ccf), so you need to know that one cubic foot equals 748 gallons. This information is useful because it gives you a starting point for comparing other businesses of a similar size as your own. So how much water does a hotel use per day? As a general point of reference (updated as of June 2016) the EPA found that the median per guest room usage in a hotel was 102 gallons of water per day.
When you begin calculating where the water in your bill is actually being used (we’ll touch on that shortly), knowing the average hotel water use helps determine if your usage is low, higher than normal, or just about average. Additionally, changes in your bills might give you a clue as to hidden leaks or problems in your system. If your hotel water usage increases considerably from bill to bill, and you can’t attribute the jump to anything in particular (such as additional equipment or seasonal changes), this could indicate a leak somewhere on your property.
Master Your Meters
If you don’t have access to your bills, you can still calculate your hotel water usage by reading your water meter. This may seem complicated, but once you know what the numbers mean, you can easily calculate your facility’s overall usage rates. To gather current data, add the task of checking the water meter to the list of scheduled maintenance your crew is already doing.
You may also be able to use your water meter for leak detection. For this, you need to find your water movement indicator dial, aka “leak dial.” The leak dial is usually either asterisk- or triangle-shaped. This test will only work if you can be sure that none of the water in your facility is running, which is why this is simpler for homeowners to accomplish. But it might be feasible if you own a small hotel or close for business at any time—perhaps on a seasonal basis.
Essentially, if the leak dial is moving, there is water flow somewhere inside your building. So if you can be sure that everything is turned off and your dial is still turning, you know you have a leak somewhere.
Understand The Flow
Once you understand your usage rates, you want to dig deeper to find out where that lump sum of water is actually flowing. From there, you can move on to deciding how to conserve water. To do that, you need usage information from every fixture and appliance in your hotel that uses water. Here’s a list to get you started:
- Sinks
- Faucets
- Showers
- Toilets
- Dishwashers
- Washing Machines
- Ice Machines
- Outdoor Faucets
- Cooling Towers (part of your HVAC System)
For faucets and showerheads, you need to know the rate of flow (gallons per minute or GPM); for toilets, you need the amount of gallons/flush; for dishwashers, you’ll need the gallons per rack rating (GPR); and for washing machines, you need to know how many gallons of water are used per load. Consider that although you may have 200 toilets, sinks, and showerheads in each of your hotel rooms, the chances are high that many of them have the same fixtures installed. If you have documentation for your equipment or the make and model, you can easily find the per rack or load usage.
If you have the resources, appointing a staff person to this task might make sense. Choose someone who is number savvy and has a passion for reducing, reusing, and recycling. The more interested they are in conserving our Earth’s natural resources, the better!
The reason for doing this is simple: knowledge is power. You can’t understand what needs to be upgraded, improved, or changed if you don’t know where the problems lie. Knowing what uses the most water in your hotel is the first step to becoming more efficient. Your restrooms, kitchens, laundry operations, and landscaping consume more water than any other area.
Luckily, there are plenty of solutions, and we’re here to help!
Tips For Reducing Water Usage in Hotel Restrooms (Public & Domestic)
If you were under the assumption that your pool and jacuzzi were sucking up your water dollars, think again. Pools usually account for just 1% of a hotel’s overall water usage. However, restrooms are the number one culprit for hotel water usage, claiming a whopping 30% of total water use. Luckily, this is one place where changes can easily be made, simply by reducing the flow from showerheads and faucets, along with the gallons flushed down those toilet drains.
Toilet water waste is an excellent example of why you need to know your flow rates and gallons used. Let’s say your toilets are two or three decades old, and they use between three and seven gallons of water every time they are flushed. Installing WaterSense models will reduce that usage to 1.28 gallons/flush. You can probably imagine how quickly a water savings of between 50 and 500 percent would affect your bottom line and how quickly those toilets could pay for themselves.
Showerheads and sinks offer similar examples. If your showers were installed pre-1992, you might be looking at a flow of 5.5 GPM. Now, you can get a showerhead with a flow rate of 2.5 GPM. Multiply that by 100 rooms, and you’ve got significant daily savings.
To recap, here’s a bulleted list of ways to conserve hotel water usage in your restrooms for ultimate reduction and maximum savings:
- Low flow and high-efficiency toilets will save you money immediately. REMEMBER: Dual-flush toilets should be equipped with posted instructions so that everyone understands how to use them!
- Have sink aerators installed; these reduce water flow by 1.5 gallons/minute.
- Install showerheads that regulate flow; 2.5 gallons/minute or less will not bother your guests while saving you big time.
- Install motion-activated sensors for hotel sinks and restroom facilities. This not only controls the amount of time water is used, but your guests will appreciate hands-free options.
- Install timers in your hotel showers. This is a gentle reminder to guests to be conscious of water conservation.
- Many urinals are no-flush, but new energy-efficient models on the market may provide a more pleasant user experience.
Tips For Reducing Water Usage in Your Hotel Kitchen
If your hotel has a kitchen, there are likely two main areas where you can reduce your water usage and save money over time: upgrading appliances and educating staff.
Consider investigating possible rebates, tax breaks, or other incentives that may be offered for purchasing ENERGY STAR® rated equipment. Energy-efficient equipment can go a long way in reducing hotel water usage. For example, the average commercial dishwasher uses roughly four gallons of water per rack (GPR), while energy-efficient models can bring that number well below a gallon per rack. The official requirements for a commercial dishwasher to be considered for an ENERGY STAR® rating can be found here if you’re interested.
Ice machines, which might be in your kitchen and other places around your hotel, are another big offender when it comes to inefficient hotel water usage. Ice machines with water cooling refrigeration units use lots of water simply to cool–much more water than is used to make ice. The energy and water used vary widely by unit, but it’s likely 34% to 95% of the water used in these machines is simply going down the drain after it’s used for cooling.
The alternative option is air-cooled refrigeration units, which are much more water efficient. Previously, these machines were often less energy efficient than water-cooled machines. However, current energy-efficient technology means you can have an air-cooled refrigeration unit that wastes neither water nor energy.
Don’t forget about the human element to water usage reduction in your kitchen—namely, your staff. While most of us have education in basic conservation, your staff might not be aware of how much their water usage is costing your business. It’s imperative that you make it clear that water is a metered utility—just like electricity or natural gas—and should be treated as such. Don’t be afraid to educate your staff on ways to conserve water!
Do your kitchen staff do any of the following?
- Washing produce under a constant stream of running water.
- Run half-full loads in your dishwasher.
- Keep the water running while cleaning surfaces or dishes.
If yes, you have plenty of opportunities to reduce water usage in your hotel kitchen. Here’s our comprehensive list of actions to take in the kitchen:
- Upgrade to ENERGY STAR® rated equipment. This alone will reduce water usage by approximately 10%.
- Install sink aerators to reduce water flow to 2.5 gallons/minute or less.
- Install pedal-operated faucets to reduce the ability for staff to leave water running when they walk away.
- Turn off continuous flow water streams when not in immediate use.
- Presoak dishes.
- Only run fully loaded dish racks through the washer.
- Defrost food in refrigerators instead of under running water. With just a bit of foresight, you will save thousands of gallons/year by eliminating this unnecessary cost.
- Wash vegetables in water basins rather than under running water.
- Fix leaky water lines immediately.
- Educate your staff about water usage and encourage them to be conscious of how they use water.
- Install food traps or compost food waste, rather than automatically and excessively using your garbage disposal, which requires running water to work properly.
(Check out 11 Super-Simple Tips for Reducing Restaurant Water Costs for more water-saving tips!)
Tips For Reducing Water Usage in Hotel Laundry Operations
After restrooms, laundry operations are the second-biggest consumer of water in your hotel, clocking in at an average of 16% of overall usage. One great way to cut down on loads of laundry being implemented in hotels everywhere is to change your practice from daily washing of sheets and towels to every other or every third day. Most guests to your hotel probably don’t sleep in freshly laundered sheets every night of the week and won’t expect to do so at your hotel either—especially if it’s in the name of water conservation. If properly implemented, an extended weekend stay can go from daily washes of sheets and towels to just once per room per stay. And for bonus savings, less frequent washings can also lead to less frequent replacement of linens and towels!
Water and wastewater account for more than 50% of the total operating costs in a typical commercial laundry. Investing in either a “tunnel washer” or a “washer-extractor” can really make a difference in your laundry operations.
A washer-extractor often includes a water recycling option, meaning the water used in the rinse cycle is stored inside the machine for use in the subsequent wash cycle. Machines without this capacity can be retrofitted with a recycling unit.
Tunnel washers operate much differently than standard washing machines. They contain long chambers the laundry is slowly pushed through. These units, though very expensive, are highly efficient, using between ⅔ and ½ the amount of washer-extractors.
If you can’t make the switch to new machines now, keep the following two tips in mind:
- Only wash full loads of laundry.
- Reduce detergent and water use by installing ozone systems.
Tips For Reducing Water Usage in Hotel Landscaping
Landscaping is number three on the list of Big Water Users, generally making up an average of 14% of hotel water usage. Often, water is wasted in landscape architecture simply due to a lack of knowledge about irrigation systems and horticultural practices.
For instance, you’re probably familiar with overhead sprinklers for irrigation, but have you heard of a product called drip tape? Exchanging your overhead sprinklers for drip irrigation can save you water because while a sprinkler will broadcast water all over the place, drip tape and drip irrigation will concentrate a steady flow of water onto only the plantings of your choosing. Just place the drip tape tubing on exactly what you want watered, turn it on, and walk away—certain that only your plants are being watered—and not your driveway.
Another great innovation in irrigation are rain sensors for your sprinklers. Never again will you have the frustrating experience of looking out the window in a downpour only to see your timed sprinklers come on, adding your purchased water to the free stuff falling from the sky. Rain sensors turn sprinklers off when they aren’t necessary.
Unless you have water-loving plants in a hot and dry landscape, plants and shrubs don’t need daily watering. The exception to this rule is new plantings, which may need daily watering for the first week or so. Follow these tips and save on water and overall costs:
- Water your hotel landscape 2 to 3 times a week instead of every day.
- Remove weeds and other unwanted plants to preserve water for your desired landscape.
- Do not over-fertilize or over-prune plants to avoid overstimulated growth.
- Avoid hosing down hotel sidewalks, parking lots, and driveways, unless absolutely necessary.
- Install soil moisture override systems and timers on hotel sprinkler systems.
- Time watering when evaporation is the lowest: early morning or evenings are the key.
- Make sure irrigation equipment applies water evenly; if it’s watering anything other than the lawn and garden, it’s wasting your money.
- Use mulch around plants to help avoid evaporation and keep weeds to a minimum.
- Install drip irrigation instead of sprinkler systems.
- Install rain sensors on your sprinkler system so you don’t end up watering in the rain!
- Install rain barrels or other water catchment systems to catch water as it falls from the sky for free for later use in landscape watering.
A Few More Winning Water-Saving Suggestions
- Sweep floors whenever possible to clean them. Avoid washing down sidewalks and surfaces with hoses, which waste a lot of water in this application.
- Consider switching your mopping system to the water broom, a new technology that saves water while delivering maximum cleaning power.
- Conduct an audit of your house cleaning staff and their procedures. Keep an eye out for excessive water usage during cleaning.
- Discourage water-wasting practices in the housekeeping staff, like using the bathtub as a mopping station.
- Switch your hotel’s carpet cleaning process from wet to dry.
- Have windows cleaned on an as-needed basis instead of a set schedule, which may result in cleaning more often than necessary.
- Consider switching any water-cooled equipment to air-cooled – in addition to your ice machines, this could include air compressors and refer condensers.
You’re Off to a Great Start!
Now that you have a better understanding of how to save money with your hotel water usage, it’s time to get to work. The longer you wait to begin implementing your hotel regulatory procedures and water-saving equipment, the longer you’re going to keep flushing money down the drain.
You’re in the hotel business to make money, and the competition is increasing. Taking control of how effectively and efficiently your hotel uses water directly affects how much money your hotel makes every year. Making money isn’t just about renting more rooms; it’s also about reducing your hotel expenses. You simply can’t afford to keep ignoring your water usage, not just for your profit margin, but also for the environment. Try these water-saving tips today!
