Water use efficiency in the hotel sector of Barbados

Barbados is water stressed, with water production close to its renewable freshwater resources. The hotel sector uses far more water than the general population (756 vs. 240 L/cap-d); water savings there would improve the overall water balance. No comprehensive analysis exists for water use by the Barbados hotel industry; this study addresses the gap. Data were collected from the Barbados Water Authority and from onsite surveys; consumption patterns were compared with international studies which had established environmentally acceptable benchmarks. The water use efficiency of Barbadian hotels was also studied as a function of “influential variables”: unit water consumption was somewhat correlated with the number of rooms, average room rate, property size and number of employees. The lack of success in reducing hotels' water consumption is tied to the fact that water bills represent less than 5% of their annual expenses. A model for unit water consumption was derived using two influential variables: the annual number of guest nights and the number of employees. Ways of fostering sound water practices include promotion among guests of the need to save water, schemes to promote the financial benefits of water conservation by relating unit water pricing to total consumption and awareness-raising among hotel managers. 巴巴多斯酒店业的用水有效情况 巴巴多斯水源是非常紧张的, 它的产水量和再生新鲜水资源量不相上下。酒店业用水量要比普通百姓用水量大得多（756 对比240升每人每天生活用水定额）。因此在酒店业的省水量可以提升总用水平额度。对于巴巴多斯酒店业用水至今还没有什么全面的分析, 而该研究正是填补这块研究的空白处。数据是从巴巴多斯水利局和现场调查中获得的。消费模式和一些已成功建立环境支持基准的国际研究做比较。巴巴多斯酒店的用水效率也通过一些有影响的可变因素来调查。这些因素包括和房间数目相关联的每单元用水量, 平均房价, 酒店大小和员工数量。减少酒店用水成功度是和水费占少于酒店年花费5%的事实密切相关的。通过两大重要的可变因素:每年住客率和员工人数, 该研究发展了关于每单位用水量的模式。支持有效的用水实际方法, 包括对客人节约用水的需求的促销, 通过将每单位水价和总消费相联系来实现水保护的经济好处的宣传, 还有对酒店管理者意识的提升。 Keywords: water use efficiencyaccommodationbenchmarkingBarbadosKeywords: 用水效率住宿基准巴巴多斯 Notes a Countries experiencing climatic conditions similar to Barbados. b Countries from the Caribbean. c CitationSingh and Clouden (1999).