Hotel industry saving 118 million litres of water

The Malta Business Bureau has announced that businesses and hotels collaborating with the EU LIFE+ 'Investing in Water Project' are saving 118,000,000 litres of water every year.

The savings are a result of upgrades carried out by businesses and hotels over the past year.

These include the installation by the Seabank Hotel of a sewage treatment plant, where treated water is used for second-class purposes, the installation by Trelleborg Sealing Solutions Malta of a process waste-water recycling plant, rainwater harvesting by BOV, installation of flow rate valves in wash hand-basins and replacement of a showers in the Corinthia Palace, Marina Hotel at the Corinthia Beach Resort, The Corinthia Hotel - St George's Bay, and toilet flushing volume reduction by the Rafael Spinola hotel, amongst others.

The amount of water being saved is enough to meet all the water needs of two medium sized 4* hotels and a large factory.

"Constant innovations and decrease in cost of technology are allowing industry to become more efficient and effective in its water consumption," MBB project manager Geoffrey Saliba said.

"A considerable body of knowledge has been built by industry leaders on which technology works best in which circumstances - sharing this knowledge base widely is allowing industry to reduce its consumption significantly."

The MBB's EU LIFE+ Investing in Water Project audited enterprises' systems, identified their water saving potential, and made recommendations on how to increase efficiency based on existing best practice. Training was also provided for technical staff on the most attractive water saving solutions.

Efficient use of water is particularly important for Malta - one of the world's top ten water scarce countries. Water scarcity has led to over-exploitation of groundwater, Malta's only natural source of freshwater, with over 50% more groundwater being extracted every year than is sustainable. Yet groundwater is relied upon by various sectors, with treated groundwater also forming part of the tap water provided by Water Services Corporation.

"Tackling the threats facing Malta's groundwater requires all stakeholders to take action. Industry and hotels proved that there are practical and economically feasible water saving solutions. The very large volume of water being saved shows that demand management can be an important tool to counter water scarcity, ensuring that consumption is as efficient as possible," Ing. Marco Cremona, water expert for the MBB project, said.

The 118,000,000 litres annual water savings result from the first set of enterprises for which the project has verified savings. The project is currently verifying savings for another set of enterprises, and project partners the MBB, Malta Chamber and MHRA expect this figure to increase significantly by the end of March.