blog post
3 days ago
Standing 48 feet below ground level at The Palazzo in Las Vegas—part of a Las Vegas Sands Corp. complex that includes The Venetian and Sands Expo—I was fascinated by the lesson in geology told to me by Jim Albers, assistant chief engineer. Turns out, when geological testing was done prior to construction of the complex, an aquifer was discovered 20 feet below ground level. What do you do with tens of thousands of gallons of water a day that has to go somewhere? At first, once the complex was built, that water—90,000 gallons a day—was sent to the municipal water system via the storm drain. Quickly realizing that was water that could be used on property, Las Vegas Sands invested in an on-site nano-filtration system. The filtration system removes salt and any other impurities from the water and allows the company to pump up to 70,000 gallons of water daily for irrigation use, street sweeping, and even the fountain that welcomes guests at the property’s entrance.