Hilton Cebu Making a Difference with Simple Water Saving Project

A small, simple invention that reuses the water used to cool ice machine compressors has allowed the Hilton Cebu Resort & Spa to recycle hundreds of thousands of litres of water each year and created huge savings on the hotel’s water bill.

The invention, a simple piping system, is attached to three ice machines in the hotel, capturing the water used to cool the compressors and then sending this ‘grey water’ to be reused in the hotel’s flushing tanks, rather than simply washing down the drain.

The system was created as part of a water saving project led by Hilton Cebu’s Chief Engineer Antonio Dizon and team members Junar Penalosa and Gaspar Pasucal, who were looking at ways to boost the resort’s environmental efforts.

General Manager Harald Feurstein said the engineering team’s effort was a victory for Hilton Cebu’s efforts to be more eco-friendly and it had been well received by guests as well as hotel staff.

“By just not letting that water disappear down the drain we are saving and then reusing around 32,400 cubic meters of precious water in a year, and that in turn saves the hotel approximately US$20,000 per year,” said Mr. Feurstein.

Special meters attached to the piping system revealed the project had saved Hilton Cebu the initial setup cost of US$1,000 in just 20 days of operation and the system has now been adopted as part of Hilton Hotels Group’s best practice for all its properties around the world.

Mr. Feurstein said, “Located on a private beach overlooking the pristine, azure waters surrounding Cebu’s Mactan Island we are very concerned with preserving our environment as it is a huge part of our business. However any hotel, anywhere in the world can see the excellent improvement this has made to our bottom line and consider both the economic and eco-friendly benefits of saving an important resource such as water.”

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