NATIONAL REPORT—Going blue is not only about cheering for the University of Michigan. Going Blue is also about becoming more water efficient, and is as important a component of the greening of the lodging industry as any other. The hotel industry has made great strides in managing water consumption—changing faucet aerators and showerheads, and replacing older toilets—but there are still more opportunities for additional savings. A water audit can help to find them.
Why Pay Such Attention to Reducing Water Use?
Water may still be cheap, but that does not mean it is plentiful. In many parts of the country water scarcity has become critical. Periodic droughts in the southwestern states have become more severe and are striking in the Southeast as well. In fact, in a 2003 report released by the GAO (Government Accountability Office), an assessment of water supplies across the country found that, “Under normal water conditions, state water managers in 36 states anticipate water shortages locally, regionally, or statewide within the next 10 years. Under drought conditions, the number grows to 46.”
Since then, the forecast has not improved. It’s not that there is any less water in the world than there used to be—water doesn’t get “used up” the way oil or gas does—it’s that our consumption has finally caught up to existing supplies and new supplies are not readily available, nor are they cheap.
As a result of these pressures, water utilities around the country are asking or requiring customers, like you, to become more efficient in the way they use water. They are instituting rebate programs, educational and outreach efforts, and restrictive irrigation ordinances to encourage conservation. The most effective action taken so far has been the increase of water rates, which are rising rapidly all over the country. In some cities, sewer rates have increased even more.
The biggest reason for hotels like yours to measure and manage water consumption is obvious: Saving Water Saves Money.
As an example, to become more efficient in laundry operations you could implement a linen reuse program. This would reduce water, sewer and energy charges, cut the need for detergent, bleach and other laundry chemicals, and reduce replacement costs for linens. The program would also save labor costs by requiring less frequent linen changes and fewer laundry loads. That’s a lot of money saved on a lot of things by taking one action to increase water efficiency.
By now you are hopefully convinced that saving water in your facility is a good idea. Your next question might be, “How do I go about it?” A water-use evaluation is a great place to start.
What is a Water-Use Evaluation (Audit), and Why Do I Need One?
Like any other kind of facility audit, a water audit provides key information for management decision-making. As the saying goes, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” An audit provides more detailed measurement of water use in your facility than your monthly water bill can provide.
In addition to simple measurements, a professional water audit will provide:
• An inventory of water-using fixtures, equipment, and processes in your hotel.
• Measurement of flow or use-rates of the above items.
• Breakdown of metered water usage by category.
• Trends and patterns of water use over time (from analysis of billing records).
• Reporting of leaks or other waste found, including irrigation inefficiencies.
• Comparison of measurements to industry standards (i.e. gallons per guestroom per year).
• Identification and feasibility assessment of water-efficient retrofits, including cost and savings estimates for each recommendation (savings from water, energy and waste water reductions); payback time for each recommended retrofit or upgrade (ROI); and information on available rebates, incentives, and financing options for each of the above.
Who provides water audits?
There are a small number of consultants who specialize in water efficiency. For best results it is recommended that you contract with one of them for your audit.
Other options:
• You can do a basic audit yourself, following a simple checklist available from certain government websites (click here for one example).
• Your water utility may offer a water audit or survey of your facility (usually fairly basic) free of charge.
• Engineering firms may offer water audits, but the price can be steep.
• Green/sustainability/LEED consultants may include an evaluation of water use in their package of services.
• Energy service companies (ESCOs), who specialize in performance contracting for energy efficiency projects, sometimes include water efficiency as part of the package, although few of them have water expertise.
How much can I save?
Here are some real world numbers to see what you can expect from implementing a water efficiency program, starting with a water audit. In a review of 15 hotels audited by our firm for a program in Southern California we found that, if all of our recommendations were implemented, the hotels would receive the following benefits:
• A total of 97,003,632 gallons in potential annual water savings (out of 225,853,364 total gallons used), an average of 42 percent savings in water.
• Total cost savings of $871,420 (including charges for water, energy and waste water).
• Dollar savings ranged from 24 percent to 83 percent of total water usage and averaged 52 percent. This translated to a potential savings of $4,400 to (in one case ) more than $300,000 annually.
• Simple payback times ranged from less than three months to just over four years, with an average of 1.7 years.
Your water and cost savings will vary depending on many factors: year built, size, location, climate, guest type (business or leisure), type of landscaping, etc. Get an audit now to find the potential for your hotel(s)…and start saving.
David Isaacson is a business development coordinator for WaterWise Consulting, Inc. WaterWise is a small firm specializing in water conservation and water efficiency services, serving water utilities and private businesses throughout California and beyond. Water audits of commercial facilities are one of the company’s specialties, and they currently have a contract with the Municipal Water District of Orange County, in California, to conduct such audits under that agency’s Water Smart Hotel Program. Over the past five years David has also served as programs director in WaterWise’s Northern California office, as program manager for several other water conservation programs, and as both a field auditor and supervisor for commercial and residential water use surveys, including many hotels and restaurants. David can be reached at disaacson@waterwise-consulting.com.
