Water use in hotels in Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of water use in 17 hotels in Hong Kong. An overview of water use in these hotels is first presented, and this is followed by a detailed analysis of water use in one of the hotels studied, where a number of operational factors that may potentially influence the water use in a hotel have been examined. These included the laundry load, number of guests, number of food covers made, and outdoor air temperature. A multiple variable regression analysis indicated that the laundry load, number of guests and number of food covers made would collectively affect the water use in a hotel in Hong Kong. In this paper, the difficulties in assessing water use in hotel buildings are briefly discussed. It is recommended that a water management programme be established in order to achieve both operational cost saving and environmental protection, and the key elements of such a water management programme based on experiences in Hong Kong hotels are highlighted.