Landscaping irrigation typically accounts for 10% of hotel water use. Using nonpotable recycled water for this purpose can save drinking water supplies.
Modular, decentralized treatment can transform wastewater, grey water, and stormwater into a valuable resource
Hotels and resorts are businesses that are known for high water use, which means they can realize many benefits from water reuse. Instead of wasting precious drinking water on nonpotable applications, hotels can treat and repurpose grey water from laundry facilities, kitchens, and even guest bathrooms. New modular wastewater treatment technologies are making it easier to treat wastewater on-site for easy reuse.
As fresh water becomes more difficult to source and costs rise, reuse makes more sense than ever for hotels. Lower withdrawals make for better community relations. Water bills drop. And eco-savvy travelers increasingly favor hotels that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability.
When properly treated, all hotel wastewater streams are potential sources of nonpotable water, including:
- Wastewater from showers, toilets, and bathroom sinks
- Wastewater from food-service operations
- Stormwater from roofs, grounds, and parking lots
- Wastewater from laundries
- Swimming pool system washings
Savings opportunities from reuse should not be underestimated. The Hilton Americas-Houston, for instance, saved an estimated $500,000 net in two years by recycling water.
What are some of the ways hotels can take advantage of water reuse?
Outdoor Cleaning
Water that is treated and reclaimed on-site is suited for washing buildings, outdoor walkways and drives, valet pick-up and drop-off areas, and shuttles.
Landscape Irrigation
Landscape and golf course irrigation typically accounts for 10% of hotel water use. Aspiral™ produces a safe stream of valuable irrigation water from even the toughest hotel wastewater streams, including food services, which make up approximately 25% of hotel water use; and showers, bathroom sinks, and toilets, which together typically make up 30-40% of hotel water use.
Outdoor Water Features, Lagoons, and Fountains
Recycled water can be safely used for outdoor water features at hotels.
Because water treated with Aspiral™ meets rigid standards for reuse, it can be used in outdoor water features, fountains, and lagoons without endangering plants or animals.
HVAC Cooling Tower Makeup Water
Hotels can lower water bills by harvesting, treating, and reusing rainwater from roofs, grounds, and parking lots. A Hyatt hotel in Atlanta now uses filtered stormwater from roofs at one of its locations for a third of its HVAC cooling tower’s water requirement. HVAC cooling tower water typically represents about 15% of total hotel water use, so savings can be significant.
Decentralized Water Reuse
Hotels can take their water reuse in-house by using Fluence’s Aspiral™ line of wastewater treatment plants.
Aspiral™ uses proven membrane aerated biofilm reactor (MABR) technology to produce water that’s ready for reuse, meeting both California’s Title 22 and China’s Class 1A standards. Because water treated with Aspiral™ meets rigid standards for reuse, it can be used in outdoor water features, fountains, and lagoons without endangering plants or animals.
Aspiral™ units are easily transported, can be used in tandem for scalability, and have a small physical footprint. They can be concealed from view, and their low-odor, low-noise operation leaves guests undisturbed.
Contact Fluence to learn more about how to add water reclamation to your hotel water management plan. And with Fluence Water Management Services available on a build-own-operate (BOO) basis, the startup cost of going green is lower than ever.
