H2Otel: measuring, comparing, and monitoring for water consumption reduction

The H2Otel project, driven by Preverisk, is an advanced pilot project aimed at reducing water consumption in hotels. It is being carried out in 11 hotels in Mallorca and Menorca, in collaboration with the Riu Hotels & Resorts, Mac Hotels, and MarSenses chains.

Project Scope

The project focuses on implementing innovative measures to reduce water consumption in the tourism sector, which represents a significant portion of global water usage. Among the proposed measures are the use of smart technologies for garden irrigation based on weather forecasts, the automation of pool filter washing through telemetry and data analysis, and positive reinforcement techniques and indirect suggestions to influence the behavior of customers and employees.

"Measuring and monitoring water consumption by hotel sectors - such as floors, gardens, pools, kitchens, etc. - is not widely practiced. Surprisingly, more than 80% of establishments in international tourist destinations do not do this, which is crucial for effective water-saving efforts," according to Esteban Delgado.

That's why the H2Otel program focuses on sectorized measurement of consumption, using digitalized meters that send data to a cloud-based database. This way, data from participating hotels is collected, and anonymous comparisons can be made with establishments of similar characteristics.

Beyond Water Consumption Reduction

In addition to reducing water consumption, the project has other objectives. On one hand, it aims to share improvements implemented and proven effective in other hotels. It also seeks to develop predictive water-saving models based on available market technologies and innovations and the typology of each establishment.

Timelines and Next Steps

The H2Otel project started in 2021 and is currently in the data collection and monitoring phase. Fifty-two sensorized meters are being monitored in areas such as pools, garden irrigation, overall consumption of establishments, and osmosis water. The first results of the season will be available in November 2023, and the impact of the installed technologies and predictive models for each type of hotel will be measured.

"The project is scalable, and we already have some cases showing interest in Playa del Carmen (Mexico). We are in the study phase to introduce the project in other tourist destinations," as Esteban Delgado pointed out.

Investment and Preverisk's Role

Regarding investment, participating hotels contribute to the hardware investment, such as meters and communications, which remain their property and have an approximate lifespan of 10 years. The installed equipment costs around 4,000 euros per hotel.

Preverisk provides consulting services and builds a data lake to store and analyze data, including data generated by the project and other data from various sources (results from our own audit visits, climate data, chemical quality indicators, etc.). All of this provides us with a high capacity for analysis and the development of future predictive models. Collaboration with the team from the Institute of Interdisciplinary Physics and Complex Systems of the CSIC and the University of the Balearic Islands, supported by the UIB's Accelera Call, is fundamental in creating this massive data storage space.

Ultimately, the goal is to continue promoting water savings in the hotel industry and foster sustainability and circularity in the sector.