Tsogo Sun plans own desalination solution
Group’s water-saving initiatives include flow-restrictors on showerheads
AS TSOGO Sun eyes a desalination plant to service its hotels close to the ocean and unveiled water saving initiatives at its hotels in Cape Town, Cosatu expressed its concern about the deepening water crisis in the city.
Garry Reed, the general manager of Tsogo Sun, said yesterday the group planned to roll out a desalination plant for its hotels close to the ocean and hoped to take the Newlands Sun off the grid by tapping into a natural spring.
“Newlands hotel is quite fortunate. It has the potential to tap into the Newlands spring. I know we have a registered borehole there at the moment, but the challenge is that the water-usage permit can take up to a year to get. We have the potential to take that hotel completely off the grid if that borehole usage permit is approved,” he said
Reed hosted officials, including Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell and Economic Opportunities MEC Alan Winde at Tsogo Sun’s recently opened SunSquare City Bowl Hotel.
Reed outlined several of the group’s water-saving initiatives, which include installing flow restrictors on showerheads and taps, not placing ice in the urinals, using borehole water to fill swimming pools, replacing linen napkins with paper serviettes, and not changing towels or sheets unless guests specifically requested that this was done.
“Some of those big industrial washers can take up to 900 litres of water for one wash, and you are putting a few thousand serviettes in there, and sometimes you have to run that machine three times a day.”
Meanwhile, Cosatu said in a statement that the city’s taps would run dry by February next year. “This will lead to deaths from thirst, an increase in illness and increased conflict over water with protests and riots.”
Cosatu said the water crisis would mainly affect the poorer communities on the Cape Flats, who would have no alternatives when the water ran out. “The wealthier side of Cape Town has already installed water tanks and have their pools and the water they can buy from the shops,” it said.
Winde said his visit to the hotel marked the start of his official programme for Tourism Month, which was an opportunity for the province to showcase the diversity and quality of its tourism offering.
“Through the efforts of industry and our own Project Khulisa, tourism in the Cape has seen a surge which has lasted through the winter season. I’m optimistic that it will play an ever-growing role in our economy, and, in line with this year’s theme of tourism as a development tool, we’ll be taking this month to highlight success stories of entrepreneurs in this space. We’ll also be looking at sustainable and responsible practices being pioneered by hospitality establishments.”