Water: Why You Should Still Visit Spier
Due to the drought we are currently experiencing, many travellers have been wondering whether they should still visit Cape Town and the Winelands.
We’d like to join the rest of the hospitality sector and government in assuring you that in spite of the seriousness of the drought, your visit will not be affected and there will be an adequate supply of water available throughout your visit.
At Spier, we have always been committed to conserving water.
If Day Zero does come into effect, we have implemented various initiatives to ensure that it’s business as usual at Spier:
· A water filtration plant which can filter 120,000L of borehole water per day will provide water for showers, taps and toilets.
· There will be plentiful supplies of drinking water – both in bottles and from Spier’s new Water From Air™ machine, which harnesses the atmosphere’s humidity to make up to 1,500L of water per day.
· Our main swimming pool will remain open as it filled and maintained through a rain-harvesting system. All courtyard pools are also open for use, as they make use of non-potable water.
Our commitment to conserving water dates back to 2007 when we set ourselves the goal of halving our municipal water consumption. This is constantly monitored and measured (even on a per-guest basis) with the farm constantly exploring ways to improve efficiency and consumption.
We’re seeing major savings: in the last six months, compared to the pre-drought period of July – Dec 2015, the Hotel saved 58% and Conferencing 55% in water usage.
100% of Spier’s black and grey wastewater is recycled by our own eco-friendly treatment plant on the farm. This produces 50 million litres of clean water annually, which is used for flushing in the estate’s busiest washrooms and to irrigate our gardens and lawns.
We have installed 400 water-saving devices on showers, basins and toilets across our farm. These include flush buddies, waterless urinals, aerators and sensor taps. Our Hotel guest rooms have no bath plugs available: we encourage guests to rather shower.
We are aiming for less than 50L per day, per Hotel visitor. As part of the FEDHASA Cape Waterwise Pledge we’ve committed to reducing water usage and consumption by 40% over the period of one year.
Together with you and the good citizens of Cape Town, our water saving-efforts can make a difference.