NATIONAL REPORT—You need not take more than a quick glance at the U.S. Drought Monitor to see that something is awry in California. Much of the state is in dark red—exceptional drought. Other parts of the state are in either extreme or severe drought. Sources of water for the Golden State are shrinking—both above ground and below ground. According to University of Colorado geoscientist Brad Udall, drought, combined with overuse have produced some of the Colorado River’s lowest flows in more than 1,000 years. As many as 40 million people in the Southwest rely on the Colorado for drinking water. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the loss of groundwater in the Western United States has been so great that the ground there actually rose one-sixth of an inch this year. The mountains of California rose three-fifths of an inch as the easing weight of the groundwater has caused the Earth’s crust to spring upward.
California, for years, has dealt with frequent drought. According to Klaus Reichardt, CEO and founder of Waterless Co. Inc., a maker of waterless urinals (see related article by Klaus), Californians are much better prepared to face drought today than they were 30 or 40 years ago. Water-using fixtures are much more efficient than they once were. Toilets in the 1970s, for example, consumed five gallons of water per flush (gpf) or more. As of January 1 this year, new toilets installed in California could not use more than 1.28 gpf. Urinals, faucets, showerheads, laundry and kitchen equipment and more have all become much more efficient in recent years.
As stingy as Californians have gotten with their water use, it is not enough. In January, Governor Jerry Brown said the drought had reached a state of emergency and urged Californians to reduce water consumption by another 20 percent. Only some communities in California have mandated water restrictions so far but more forced cutbacks are certainly coming. “There are going to be a lot of new restrictions in the next couple of months,” says David Zimmerman, General Manager of the Courtyard Hotel Torrance Palos Verdes in Torrance, Calif.
To their credit, according to Bridget Boyd, Legislative & Communications Manager, California Hotel & Lodging Assn., lodging establishments throughout California have been conserving water for years. “Now they are trying to do even better,” she says.
Association Creates Helpful Resource Page
To help its members and others with water conservation, the California Hotel & Lodging Assn. recently created a Water Resources area on its site that includes links to many helpful resources. Sections are dedicated to each region of the state and there are links to information about rebates and incentives. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s site, for example, includes information on rebates available for toilets, urinals, ice machines, and other items.
Earlier this summer, in June, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) announced it was sending IHG Green Engage Water Conservation Kits to 230 hotels in California, including Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo and Holiday Inn hotels. The resources in the Water Conservation Kits include details on how hotels can actively participate in conserving water, with tips on IHG Green Engage Green Solutions to implement, as well as examples of how other hotels have been successful in their water conservation efforts. The kits also included aerators to install on water faucets to contribute to the potential savings of over 77 million gallons of water per year in California.
In its press release about the Water Conservation Kits distribution, IHG mentioned the successes of the InterContinental San Francisco, a LEED Gold hotel that is saving an estimated two million gallons of water a year with low flow faucets, high-efficiency toilets, and an HVAC cooling water treatment system called Dolphin WaterCare. That system alone is helping the hotel save approximately 1 million gallons of water annually. Previously, the hotel was using chemicals to treat cooling water, which required routinely wheeling chemical-filled barrels through a hallway of guestrooms for delivery to the rooftop HVAC room. The non-chemical Dolphin WaterCare system leverages pulse-power technology to impart a broad spectrum of electro-magnetic fields into the flowing cooling tower water. This removes the static charge from naturally-occurring particles present in cooling water and results in scale prevention, corrosion control, biological control, improved heat transfer and a 62 percent reduction in blowdown water.
Anupam Bhargava, CEO, Clearwater Systems Corp., the maker of Dolphin WaterCare, says 4.9 million commercial buildings in the United States consume 10 billion gallons of potable water each day. More than one-third of that water goes into the cooling system. Cooling towers in hotels offer tremendous opportunity for water, energy and cost savings.
Significant Benefits Expected from Waterless Urinal Installation
Harry Hobbs, Area Director of Engineering, InterContinental Hotels of San Francisco, says the InterContinental San Francisco also has an optional linen refresh program which has a 50 percent participation rate. The program helps reduce laundry water and energy consumption, the use of chemicals, and helps extend linen life. Installation of waterless urinals in public restrooms is expected to save the hotel another half million gallons of water per year.
At the aforementioned Courtyard Hotel Torrance Palos Verdes in Torrance, Calif., General Manager David Zimmerman says his property is one-third of the way through a landscaping facelift that is going to reduce water consumption significantly. On the way out are flowerbeds, hedges and turf. On the way in: drought-resistant plants. The irrigation system was also replaced in some areas and an audit of the entire irrigation system was conducted. “We adjusted the timing for irrigation and put in new heads where we could,” Zimmerman says. The hotel will also be putting in a new dishwasher to help it further reduce water consumption.
Zimmerman says he expects socially conscious travelers to notice the exterior improvements. “When they see the new plantings and the towel/linen reuse program—it ties it all together,” he says.
Charles A. Smith, CEO, Hotel Sustainability Solutions, Inc., who has helped the Hilton Concord in Concord, Calif. with its sustainability initiatives, says that property is considering a new irrigation system with sensors that will measure the moisture at the root level of a plant. The hotel, which already has water-efficient fixtures and other efficiency measures in place, is also planning to transition to using greywater for some of the irrigation on the property.
The Hotel Indigo San Diego-Gaslamp Quarter has a garden with native plants, requiring little water, covering nearly 40 percent of the rooftop.
The Crowne Plaza San Diego—Mission Valley hotel installed the IHG Green Engage Water Conservation Kit aerators on kitchen sinks and has found that timers on water features such as filtration and sprinklers have also assisted with conservation efforts.
Drinking Water Served Only Upon Request
Hotels such as the Hilton Concord and San Francisco’s Chancellor Hotel are serving water only upon request at their restaurants.
The Waterless Co.’s Reichardt says water rates are still not high enough “to scare people.” “In this country we are still using 75 gallons a day,” he says. “In Europe: 50. In Jordan: 25. The most expensive water is water that is not there. Water, up until now, has not been in everyone’s thinking. Water and sewer rates will eventually skyrocket.”
Since its creation more than eight years ago, Green Lodging News has added more than 500 articles to its Water Conservation section. Click here to access that section. The following are some additional resources to check out for water conservation ideas:
https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/severe-drought-causing-western-us-rise
http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/2344888-151/63-trillion-gallons-of-groundwater-lost-so-far?entryType=0#
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/freshwater_supply/freshwater.html
http://www.weather.com/news/science/environment/drought-lake-powell-lake-mead-climate-change-20130818
http://www.calodging.com/enewsletter/pdfs/HotelFactSheetWATERCONSERVATION.pdf
http://www.saveourh20.org/
Glenn Hasek can be reached at editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
