POU systems for sustainable hotels: significant savings and benefits

Sally Laurie | Sustainability, Innovation | Articles

Hotels are bustling environments that require precise coordination in procurement, operations, logistics, and daily management to ensure smooth and efficient service. Water is essential for hotel guests, who have come to expect bottled water in their rooms as part of the overall guest experience. While the small bottle of water may seem to have a big impact for hotels, reality is quite the opposite as each one needs re-ordering, replenishing, refrigerating, over and over again. Every single bottle has a significant impact, with each individual bottle creating waste, incurring cost and time and requiring transportation and storage space. By switching to point of use, POU systems for sustainable hotels, using refill systems, such as an E6 or T3 dispenser, hotels can make significant savings on time, energy and cost, whilst reducing their single-use waste and their environmental impact. Moving away from bottled water is a more sustainable and efficient approach for hotels to meet guest’s needs. By transitioning to POU dispensers, hotels can maintain this important amenity without the need for extra staff to manage bottle inventory and replenishment.

This article will explore the advantages of switching from bottled water to point of use dispensing systems for hotel establishments, who are looking to become more sustainable, source locally and still provide great quality water for guests.

The multiple ways hotels can save by installing water dispensers and hot taps.

Save on time

Every single bottle of water used by a hotel will need to be ordered, delivered, stored, refrigerated and replaced. For an average hotel this equates to an estimated 160 working days on just restocking water, in bedrooms, conference rooms, gyms, restaurants and other areas.

By implementing POU systems for sustainable hotels in convenient locations, such as lobbies, gyms, corridors and hotel suites, allow guests to access fresh drinking water easily, reducing the need for constant restocking and enabling staff to focus on enhancing the guest experience.

Save on costs

Labour costs related to managing bottled water—such as restocking, storing, and replacing—can cost an average hotel around £15,000. This expense comes even before purchasing the bottled water itself, which can add an additional £15,000 or more depending on the size of the hotel. Additionally, swapping to dispensed water will save on energy costs, as there is no need for continuous refrigeration, with EcoMode saving around 70% on energy costs.

POU water dispenser system in sustainable hotel lobby

Additionally, there are energy costs from the constant refrigeration needed to keep bottled water chilled 24/7. A point-of-use (POU) dispenser offers a more efficient solution by providing instantly chilled water without the need for continuous refrigeration. with its innovative EcoMode feature, the dispenser or tap system can enter a ‘sleep’ mode, conserving energy whenever it’s not in active use, saving around 70% on energy costs.

Following the initial investment in a water dispenser or integrated tap system, it can ultimately eliminate the cost of up to 35,000 single-use water bottles over its lifetime.

Save on energy

Between labour, energy and water costs, the average 100 room hotel can save upwards of £30,000 a year. With a service rental agreement, a hotel can spread the investment of a refillable water system, for a manageable regular monthly cost, without the hassle. With sustainable travel booming, and hotels looking to reduce their energy consumption, POU systems for sustainable hotels, equipped with EcoMode, can save around 70% on energy. Using an intelligent ‘sleep mode’ feature, integrated tap systems and water coolers will only consume energy to heat and cool water when guests are around to use it. Compared to inefficient kettles and fridges that run 24 hours a day, this can make a great difference to energy use, without compromising on temperature.

Save on carbon

Research shows that a 500ml bottle of water contains about 3 ounces of carbon dioxide. When multiplied across the thousands of bottles consumed by individual hotels, this adds significantly to their carbon footprint. The production of these bottles—whether made of glass, plastic, or metal—also demands considerable energy. Additionally, the frequent daily or weekly deliveries of bottled water to hotels add substantially to carbon emissions due to transportation. In contrast, POU water dispensers and integrated tap systems for sustainable hotels, only require a one-time installation and then continuously provide guests with chilled, sparkling, ambient, or hot water as desired. At Borg & Overström, our nearshore operations and use of locally sourced water help us maintain a low carbon footprint across our products.

Save on water consumption

Have you ever needed to run a tap for several minutes to get it from tepid to chilled? With a point-of-use water dispenser, guests have immediate access to water at their desired temperature. Portion control ensures that only the required amount is dispensed, minimizing water waste.

POU systems for sustainable hotels, the E6 water dispenser with portion control

Save on plastic and waste

An average size hotel can use between 50,000 to 100,000 bottles in a year, each one of these ending up as waste. Only 30% of these bottles will make it to recycling. The rest will end up in landfill or litter our water sources and oceans, leading to plastic pollution and damaging habitats.

A point of use water dispenser can save 35,000 single use plastic water bottles over its lifetime.

Recent studies have found that 90% of bottled water contains harmful microplastics.

Hotels: is it time to make the smart move to point-of-use drinking water dispensers?

Replacing single-use plastic bottles with POU systems for sustainable hotels offers multiple advantages. From reducing storage needs and operational costs to improving efficiency and cutting carbon emissions, this change is a smart, sustainable solution. Embracing this shift allows hotels to operate more smoothly while playing a part in global sustainability efforts, making it a true win-win for both business and the environment.

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