With the announcement by the City of Cape Town that level 6 water restrictions will be introduced on the 1st of January 2018, the tourism industry is sharpening their pencils to find innovative ways to further reduce water consumption in hotels to help alleviate the drought situation in the Western Cape.
Apart from obvious water saving practices already introduced earlier this year, Tintswalo Atlantic has invested in new technology to aid water saving with the installation of pressure reducers on all taps and showers. This, together with other water saving measures, have brought down water consumption at the 5-star lodge by about 50%. General Manager Ryno du Rand says that various other options are currently being explored to save water. “Tintswalo Atlantic is the only hotel located within the Table Mountain National Park, and we, therefore, exist very close to nature and in tune with the elements. Apart from saving water, ultimately our goal would be for Tintswalo Atlantic to go ‘off the grid’ and be self-sufficient in terms of the supply of both water and power,” he says.
Tintswalo Atlantic has switched its laundry operations to Green Planet Laundry, a local commercial laundry operation which makes use of non-potable, purified borehole water, which does not tap into the city’s precious municipal drinking water supply. Other ways to reduce the hotel’s laundry operations include not changing bed linen daily, and the use of top quality, recyclable paper napkins during meal service, and at guest basins, in addition to the availability of waterless hand sanitizer throughout the hotel.
While the inviting oceanside seawater swimming pool is well utilised by guests on hot summer days, the creative team at Tintswalo Atlantic does go to great lengths to inform and educate guests about the water crisis. Says Du Rand: “Our signature messages in ‘shell writing’ now also extends to the baths in guest rooms. A beautifully laid-out request in the bath to save water does seem to do the trick and usually manages to convince even the greatest bath lover to swop a soaking in a deep tub with a refreshing, quick shower!”
