With a harsh summer and depleting groundwater table, hoteliers in the city say that they are learning to cope with water loss and have adopted environment-friendly practices to harness their daily supply. As their dependency on Corporation water is almost nil, many hotels with over 40/60 rooms hire private tankers for water supply.
G. Vasudevan, Director, Fortune Pandiyan Hotel, says that they purchase 30,000-35,000 litres of water every day for cooking, bathing and cleaning. “Many borewells sunk by the hotel have gone dry and private tankers are our only source. The Corporation supplies meagre water for our daily needs. Hence, it is only a secondary source,” he says.
He points out that the hotel has a well established rainwater harvesting system. Water from this source is softened so that Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and pH levels are accurate and later put to use. It provides great yield and is environment-friendly, he adds. The hotel, he says, is actively taking efforts to recycle waste water and use it for the garden. Reusing waste water after treatment has helped in saving a sizeable amount of available resources. Like Fortune Pandiyan, Regency Madurai of GRT Hotels too has begun purchasing water for daily use. Chief Engineer R. Gopalakrishnan says that of their two borewells sunk at a depth of 300 feet each, only one functions properly.
“We did not have too much of a problem until last year. We are purchasing water this year. The hotel gets about 24,000 liters twice a week. We have an efficient eight-year-old rainwater harvesting system which supports us during summer. With about three inches of rain, our tanks are full,” he says. He adds that all hotels must begin to find sustainable water supply methods so that they do not feel the pinch during summer.
S. Stephen, General Manager of JC Residency, says that they too face a similar situation at the hotel. Most star hotels in Madurai are built on properties with sufficient groundwater levels. K. Sundaramoorthy, General Manager of Poppy’s Hotel, says that water is an important factor in choosing the location of a hotel. “We are blessed with enough groundwater at 18 feet. We have one borewell at a depth of 150 feet to meet the needs of guests in 67 rooms. We use anywhere between 1,000 and 1,200 litres of water for our swimming pool everyday,” he says.
Hotels like Heritage Madurai, which is spread over 17 acres, primarily use water for gardening, says V. Arul Murugan, its General Manager. He says that since the hotel is surrounded by green trees and expansive gardens, water tankers are hired only during summer. A total of 24,000 litres of water is ordered twice a day to combat dry and withered grass and trees. Water is supplied from two borewells for the 73 rooms for cooking, washing and bathing purposes, he says.
Managers, directors and owners say that they have begun educating their staff and guests about frugal usage of water. In JC Residency, hotel staff are explicitly told to cut down extensive water usage through workshops. In Fortune Pandiyan Hotel, several placards and posters on water conservation are exhibited to drive home the message. Dr. Vasudevan says, “We fill only half a glass of water because drinking water is a rare commodity and is often wasted. To educate the public, the hotel has consciously made the effort to ensure that this source is not wasted. People can certainly ask for refills,” he adds.