HILLSBORO, ORE.—Drury Hotels, a 100 percent family owned and operated mid-scale hotel company, has chosen Caroma, a leader in dual flush toilets, to supply water-saving toilets to seven hotels in the Drury chain, including the Drury Inn and Suites, Pear Tree Inn, and the Drury Plaza. This includes three retrofit projects (one in 2007 and two completed in early 2009) to replace older, higher water usage toilets and four new constructions (one in 2008 and 2009 and two in 2010).
Caroma’s first installation with Drury Hotels in 2007 was part of San Antonio Water System’s commercial toilet retrofit program at the Pear Tree Inn, San Antonio, Texas. As a result of high efficiency dual flush toilets and low flow showerheads being installed, the water consumption reduced by an average of 50 percent from 2006 to 2009 for the same three-month period. The impressive results in water savings and performance are now being experienced in other Drury Hotels in San Antonio as well as Flagstaff, Ariz., and in hotels opening during 2009 and 2010 in Phoenix, Wichita, Kan., and San Antonio.
Caroma was chosen as the dual flush toilet provider to help maximize water savings in the bathrooms. The Sydney Smart range was installed during two retrofit projects in early 2009. The Sydney Smart features a 1.28 gallon full flush button for solid waste and 0.8 gallon half flush option for liquid and paper waste, averaging just 0.9 gallons per flush. This saves nearly 44 percent more water compared to the nationally-mandated 1.6 gallon toilet. Assuming an average of 125 rooms with a 70 percent occupancy rate and eight flushes per room, one Drury hotel can save more than 664,000 gallons of water annually compared to a 3.5 gallon toilet and 178,000 gallons compared to a single flush 1.6 gallon toilet. The Sydney range installed in two earlier hotel projects use 1.6 gallons per flush for solid waste and 0.8 gallons per flush for liquid and paper waste, averaging only 0.96 gallons per flush based on a 1:4 full/half flush ratio.
Water Expenses Reduced
“Our focus at Drury Hotels is ensuring that our guests receive quality and consistency at a good value,” says Gregg Mrzlak, mechanical project manager from Drury Southwest, Inc. “We are also very aware of the drought conditions throughout the Southwest, and by using Caroma water-conserving toilets, we are able to save considerable water each year and reduce our water costs. A great added benefit by using Caroma is a reduction in maintenance due to blockages being eliminated. We have been very pleased with the dual flush toilets and will be using them in future retrofits and new installations where possible.”
“The Caroma dual flush toilets have been a great addition to our hotels because they reduce hotel water costs considerably each year and reduce the burden on San Antonio’s water systems,” says Danielle Poyner, LEED AP for Drury Southwest, Inc. “In addition to these benefits, the toilets have also contributed to Drury Hotels earning LEED Certification at the Drury Inn & Suites in Flagstaff and for hotels seeking LEED certification that will be opening soon, including Drury Inn & Suites La Cantera in San Antonio, Texas, Drury Inn & Suites in Phoenix, and Drury Plaza in Wichita, Kan.”
“In addition to the substantial water savings experienced at the Pear Tree Inn, we have reduced the number of clogs from three to five per week prior to Caroma toilets being installed to zero clogs in more than two years,” explains Aaron Francisco, property manager at Pear Tree Inn, San Antonio. “Our customers like the fact that we are helping conserve water, but also that the toilets look very modern. We didn’t have to sacrifice style for water conservation.”
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