World Water Day is Saturday, March 22. World Water Day celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. It is also about taking action to reduce your property’s water consumption.
Green Lodging News dedicates a section of its website to water conservation. There are currently more than 1,200 articles in that section that is filled with hundreds of water conservation best practices and ideas. What steps have you taken to reduce water consumption? Can you do more?
Reducing water consumption is one of the cornerstones of every company’s overall sustainability initiative.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries—developed and developing—in a global partnership. Goal number six is “Clean Water and Sanitation.” “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all,” the goal states.
Many Easy Solutions
Reducing water consumption is one of the easiest things a green hotelier can do. Sink aerators, low-flow faucets, showerheads and toilets, leak detectors, a linen and towel reuse program, greywater reuse, water-efficient washers and dishwashers, laundry water recycling, pre-rinse sprayer nozzles for the kitchen, smart irrigation, native landscaping, and rainwater harvesting all contribute to water savings. I have even written about “water from air” systems on Green Lodging News.
Reducing water consumption has financial benefits, of course, including incentives offered by many local utilities. Water conservation also helps reduce the carbon footprint of water—a reduction in the amount of energy required to move and treat that water.
Aside from Green Lodging News, hotel company sustainability reports are a great source for water-saving ideas, as well as understanding what goals the company has set in water conservation.
Bethesda, Md.-based Host Hotels & Resorts, designated as one of the world’s most sustainable companies and one of only 13 U.S. real estate investment trusts (REITs) in S&P Global’s 2025 Sustainability Yearbook, features its water conservation goals in its 2024 Corporate Sustainability report. Host’s water stewardship goal is a 25 percent reduction of water usage per occupied room by 2030 (2019 baseline).
A Large Investment in Water Savings
As of the publishing of its 2024 Corporate Sustainability Report, Host had invested nearly $13 million into water efficiency projects across its portfolio, resulting in $3.5 million in annual utility estimated savings and estimated water savings of 326 million gallons annually.
Water conservation is of course more critical in drought-affected areas. As of March 11, 36 percent of the U.S. and Puerto Rico and 43 percent of the lower 48 states were in drought. Lake Mead, which provides water to Arizona, California, Nevada, and parts of Mexico, had an elevation at the end of February 2025 that was 1,068.18 feet above sea level, a small increase in comparison to the previous month. In July 2022, the reservoir reached the lowest monthly water level recorded since Lake Mead was first formed by the Hoover Dam in the 1930s. At full capacity, Lake Mead has a water level of 1,229 feet above sea level.
Do you have a water conservation success story to tell? Do you have future plans to invest in a unique, water-saving product or technology? I would love to hear from you. Write to: greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
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Every two weeks Green Lodging News posts a new guest column on its website. (Click here for examples.) The guest column also appears in the weekly e-newsletter. Green Lodging News is currently in need of industry experts to contribute occasional guest columns. Experts may include consultants, architects, designers, suppliers, and those who own or operate green lodging establishments. Columns may be articles that take a stance on a particular subject or be strictly educational in nature. Columnists benefit by having their photo included along with a one paragraph description of their company. Interested in writing a column? Contact Glenn Hasek, publisher and editor, at (813) 510-3868, or by e-mail at greenlodgingnews@gmail.com.
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