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

This case study examines how the Southern Sun Newlands hotel in Cape Town improved its water resilience following a severe drought between 2015 and 2018. The hotel implemented a combination of behavioral changes, water-efficiency technologies, and the installation of a groundwater treatment plant to reduce municipal water reliance and operational costs.

• The Southern Sun Newlands hotel reduced its water consumption by more than 40% through a combination of low-cost interventions, including awareness raising, water monitoring, and efficiency measures.
• To achieve independence from the municipal water grid, the hotel installed a water treatment plant in 2018 at a capital cost of approximately R2 million. This plant upgrades groundwater from natural aquifers to potable standards, supporting a maximum daily water demand of 40–50kl.
• Specific water-saving measures implemented by the hotel include 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's efforts were recognized by the City of Cape Town's water star rating programme, where it received a four-star rating for its innovative and consistent 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} }