The financial case for better water management in hotels has been strongly reinforced by a new study showing the potential for savings in the billions.

The study is focused on Europe but offers a blueprint for the hospitality sector worldwide as it combines the business advantages with the eco benefits of reduced carbon footprint. Allied to this is the stark fact that water is an increasingly precious resource, under pressure from growing population and economic development.

It advises that water efficiency adoption would stimulate increased growth within the European economy while reducing CO2 emissions and energy dependence – providing the clearest evidence of business benefits from going green.

It is heartening to read a study that amplifies from an independent standpoint the savings benefits that my company has seen in its work with the sector, where investment in water flow reduction solutions has been proven to deliver excellent savings and very rapid payback.

The study's water audits identified that flow rates of 7 litres per minute for shower and 5 litres per minute for hand basins were best practice examples at leading 5-star resorts but that most hotels had flow rates which greatly exceeded these benchmarks.

In our experience in the UK most hotels we have worked with prefer a slightly higher flow rate with eco showers of 9 ltr/m although some opt for as low as 6 ltr/m. And many properties and groups choose a lower rate for eco taps, down to 3.5 ltr/m, reporting no negative guest reaction in every case.

The most pleasing aspect is that in hospitality environments, we have found that it is really easy to make a big difference to water consumption, energy use and carbon footprint. In fact, it is simpler than LED lighting retrofit, another area for massive energy savings.

It makes both economic and environmental sense to establish ways to reduce water consumption in the sector in ways that do not impact adversely on guest satisfaction. That can be a tricky balancing act as some solutions make the shower experience or tap use less than excellent.

That is why the sector needs to be careful in the choice of products – getting this wrong can be costly as negative guest reaction to poor water fittings upgrades can have a serious impact on the bottom line.

Saving trillions of litres

The new study, which was produced by the Malta Business Bureau (MBB) and presented to the EU, identifies that savings of around 1.4 billion Euros annually are achievable in the EU hospitality industry.

It estimates that water savings of over 365 trillion litres can be achieved with relative ease while flow rate regulation would have the added advantage of reducing the energy required to heat water, resulting in around 1.8 million tonnes of CO2 emissions reduction.

The report focuses on the potential for water and energy savings through flow rate regulation as well as greywater treatment - recycling wastewater from showers and wash-hand basins to flush toilets.

It was presented to Karmenu Vella, the EU Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, who warmly welcomed it. Indeed, Mr Vella advised that water stress was a growing issue in many EU states but he underlined that there are clear and easy technological wins. He pledged to feed the results of the study into the work of the commission.

While Malta has been a leading player over the past couple of years in the promotion of water management, the study went beyond the island's boundaries to gather data for 5.5 million guest nights from 247 hotels in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, Malta and Slovenia.

Flow rate solutions

The report underlines that effective water management would strengthen an industry that is one of Europe's key employers and economic drivers. It follows previous assessments by the MBB's award-winning EU LIFE+ Investing in Water Project. The board is actively backing the widespread adoption of the EU Ecolabel for water consuming appliances such as taps, showers and urinals, and the creation of a standard for second-class water.

It advises: "The savings could be achieved through the industry-wide adoption of flow rate regulation on showers and wash-hand basins, and greywater treatment. Commercially viable flow rate regulation and greywater treatment equipment are widely available within the EU. However, while 45% of surveyed hotels have already adopted flow rate regulation, the measures taken have not achieved their full savings potential. Greywater treatment has only been adopted by 1% of hotels."

Standardised measurement

It is also heartening to see the growth of cooperation in the moves to standardise the way the hospitality industry measures and reports on water consumption. The water working group at International Tourism Partnership (ITP) aims to create a standardised approach to measuring and communicating water consumption across the hotel industry – the Hotel Water Measurement Initiative (HMWI).

The aim of HWMI is to develop a methodology to enable hotel companies and individual properties to measure and report on water consumption in a consistent way. The working group is composed of ITP member companies with KPMG as technical consultants, supported by a stakeholder steering group of global experts, including the Stockholm International Water Institute, Water Footprint Network, World Resources Institute and Carbon Trust.

As an Accredited Supplier with the Carbon Trust, we warmly welcome the initiative and hope that the tool will become the universally recognised standard for water measurement, reinforcing the Trust's own Standard for Water.