How Hotels Can Make Smart Technologies Part Of Their Corporate Water Management Strategy

June 17, 2021

As a property owner or manager, how many times have you look to chop your utility fees to start crunching back on your net operating income (NOI)? Countless times…

Hotel’s Expense and Budgets

Utility cost accounts for one of the largest annual expenses faced by an hotel’s budget, with water and sewer accounting for nearly 25% of the total utility costs, a report generated by PKF Hospitality Research (A CBRE company). It has been agreed among hotel General Managers that the cost associated with water and sewer per hotel is “substantial and should be controlled”. Consequently, new solutions and technologies are needed to address water consumption and usage to help operators and owners of hospitality assets.

The Hotel Guests

Controlling water usage and water expenses for individual properties are currently practiced by three “old” strategies, either repairing old plumbing fixtures, replacing them with products that slow water flow, or discouraging the daily perk of cleaning the linen in the guest room. The results for these practices are very clear, such as less water coming out of the shower heads and faucets, passing on poor guest experiences. Unfortunately, hotels are further forced to pass on the rising cost of water fees to their guests, through increased room rates, because of the elevated amounts coming from city municipalities annually (2%-6%).

The Water Management Approach That Always Wins (TheWaterEyeTM)

Innovations that provide more precise water-related data, tools and strategies are helping hotels implement better water management initiatives. TheWaterEye^TM program helps to minimize this problem at the point of entry (POE) just at the water flow meter. The TheWaterEye program consist of these processes:

The Series 1: smart technology (Accurate water metering™)
The Series 2: smart technology (Real-time alert and control™)
The Series 3: smart technology (Pipe health & water recovery™)

This unique program may utilize one, two or all three technologies depending on the building requirements and management goals.

With the installation of the smart water valve system downstream, close to the city meter, water will enter the property with entrained air, until it passes through the Series 1: smart technology. This prevents the meter from reading the air, that would have otherwise expanded, leading to meter inaccuracies (learn about meter inaccuracies and water billing statements). The end result is two fold, better guest experience and significant savings on the Hotel’s water fees. Customers have seen 10-40% savings on monthly water fees.

Installation of the The Series 2: smart technology (Smart IoT^TM) can be done at predefined building set points, such as at the water flow meter (POE), at your booster pumps all they way to the exit (post Chillers/Cooling Towers). Once installed, water usage can be tracked and leaks detected immediately with reports delivered -hourly, -daily, -weekly, monthly and annually. Alerts can be received, via SMS, e-mails, or by simply logging into TheWaterEye portal.

If your building suffers from clogging due to hard water, then installing The Series 3: smart technology (Non-invasive pipe health and water recovery) will improve your pipelines by removing clogging due to crystallisation of minerals as well as the minerals that will cause new clogging. This technology improves your pipe’s health, improve cooling efficiencies and reduce water usage by up to 40%. Learn more about pipe health and water recovery benefits.

Where Does Good Hotel Water Management Start?

When good water management is being hindered by slowly detected leaks, pipe breakages, regular changes of plumbing fixtures and rising water fees that seem uncontrollable, begin by seeking a property water management company that specialising in achieving sustainable water goals. One that takes the time to identify the challenges and present reasonable and achievable solutions. The best property water management company will have a team of devoted experts in water and building automation that communicates clearly who take your team of engineers by the hand to ensure the technology is right and ensure your corporate water management goals are realised.

To find out how we can help your Hotel’s water management initiatives and savings, contact Water Solutions Technology or request a meeting to demonstrate the technologies.