PE’s Guest Houses have the most to gain from recycling of greywater as proven through research carried out at two Summerstrand guesthouses.

The majority of guest’s will consume more water per person than you do, simply because they either aren’t aware of the water situation or they just don’t care because they aren’t paying for it.

PE’s Guest Houses have the most to gain from recycling of greywater as proven through research carried out at two Summerstrand guesthouses over the months of November, December & January.  As a guest house owner, the abuse of water is probably going to become your biggest headache (apart from broken toilet seats and shower doors)!

A block of four guest rooms connected to a Water Wizard System, relates to a 28,000 litres of water available for re-cycling. Equating to a total monthly saving of R380 per four rooms!  During the research period, at one of the guesthouse’s, a single guest staying for 4 days, consistently drained the 150l geyser each morning, leaving the adjacent room without hot water!

Also,

• Half of your guests shower morning & evening
• The majority switch the shower hot tap on and leave it running whilst brushing teeth, or using the toilet.
• Most guests will leave the basin tap running whilst brushing their teeth and shaving

On this basis a guest will consume a daily average of 200l, made up of 1.5showers (60l per shower), 4 toilet flushes (12l per flush), 2 basin usages (30l per usage)

If a block of four guest rooms is connected to a system, and assuming an occupation level of 75% and a 50/50 split between single and double occupancy, the four rooms will host an average of 140 room nights per month. This relates to a 28,000 litres of water available for re-cycling. Even at the commercial rate of R7.57 per liter, this amounts to R212 that can be saved in water costs. Apart from this, the commercial sewage rate is R6 per kl of water consumed, so a sewage saving of R168 can be added to make a total monthly saving of R380 per four rooms!

Guesthouse laundry also consumes huge amounts of water. During the research period, it was noted that at 75% occupancy, each room generates an average of 12 loads of laundry per month at 120l per load, using 1,440l per month. Assuming a 6 room guest house, laundry water for rooms only, is 8,640l. Added to laundry from the main house (1 load per day), laundry water generated for recycling amounts to 12,000 l per month.

Assuming two separate systems, the average 6 room guest house can easily re-cycle 40,000 l of water per month – a water cost saving of R300 and a sewage saving of R240 – not to mention the added benefit of being able to water your garden!