Building water resilience: Investing in alternative water sources and improving water-efficiency

The Southern Sun Newlands hotel improved its water resilience following the 2015-2018 Cape Town drought by combining behavioral changes, water-efficiency technologies, and the installation of a groundwater treatment plant. These measures reduced water consumption by over 40% and allowed the hotel to operate entirely off the municipal water grid, meeting a maximum daily demand of 40–50kl. The hotel's efforts earned it a four-star rating from the City of Cape Town's Water Star Rating programme.

• The Southern Sun Newlands hotel achieved a water consumption reduction of over 40% through a combination of low-cost interventions, including awareness raising, water monitoring, and efficiency measures.
• To achieve complete independence from the municipal water grid, the hotel installed a water treatment plant in 2018 at a capital cost of approximately R2 million, utilizing natural aquifers to supply 40–50kl of potable water per day.
• Specific water-efficiency interventions included installing flow restrictors that reduced tap flow from approximately 20 litres per minute to less than 9 litres per minute, and replacing linen serviettes with paper napkins, which saved nearly 4,000 litres of water daily.
• The hotel was awarded a four-star rating by the City of Cape Town's Water Star Rating programme in 2022 for its consistent and innovative water-saving practices.

APA

GreenCape (n.d.). Building water resilience: Investing in alternative water sources and improving water-efficiency. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Water-Resilience-Southern-Sun-Hotel-Newlands-1.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Building water resilience: Investing in alternative water sources and improving water-efficiency. n.d. https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Water-Resilience-Southern-Sun-Hotel-Newlands-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Building water resilience: Investing in alternative water sources and improving water-efficiency |url=https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Water-Resilience-Southern-Sun-Hotel-Newlands-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencapendbuilding, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Building water resilience: Investing in alternative water sources and improving water-efficiency}}, institution = {GreenCape}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Water-Resilience-Southern-Sun-Hotel-Newlands-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }