It’s safe to say that after narrowly avoiding Day Zero, South Africans will never take water for granted again. As it stands, the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape continue to experience severe drought conditions, with all provinces having gone through some form of water restriction in recent years. South Africa is a water scarce country, and the recent droughts have been a wake-up call to change our status quo – there is no better time than now to invest in sustainability and do your bit to reduce water usage. One of the massive water users in hotels is laundry, and that’s why we’re excited to share a new-on-the-South-African-market, super-water-savvy washing machine with you!

Imported by local company fanute, we can now get the innovative, award-winning Hydrofinity laundry system in South Africa – and that’s a big deal for the hospitality sector. “The near-waterless washing system from Hydrofinity is exciting and can potentially revolutionise the local tourism sector,” says Charl de Beer, manager of fanute. “Saving up to 80% water and nearly 50% electricity are metrics that resonate with South Africans, who are facing rising water costs due to the growing scarcity of these utilities.”

A Hydrofinity system uses up to 80% less water than a conventional washing machine and a single 25kg machine can run 14 cycles a day, saving up to 2 million litres of water a year with just one machine. Energy consumption is also reduced, using up to 50% less electricity than a conventional machine. The energy and water savings don’t come at the cost of performance – tough stains are removed easily with award-winning technology, and linen life is extended due to a lower temperature and less detergent needed to clean. Less detergent also translates to lower costs, and staff won’t have to spend as much time pre-treating and sorting.

So how does the Hydrofinity system achieve its low water-usage? Through replacing 80% of the water that’s conventionally used in a washing machine with polymer XOrbs. These beads gently massage the textiles and, combined with the supplied detergent solution, provides superior cleaning results by attracting the dirt molecules from the linen. The XOrbs are reusable for hundreds of washes and once they’ve reached the end of their lifespan, can be recycled.

There’s no better time to invest in water and energy-saving equipment, especially when the results are this great. The hospitality industry has a great role to play in sustainability, and while Day Zero might be avoided in Cape Town in the near future, water reduction will continue to be important across the board.

CASE STUDY

The Hyatt Hotel in Reston VA showed these considerable savings after one yet with Hydrofinity.

Number of Hydrofinity Machines:

3x 25kg

Total Savings per year:

R510 780

Water savings per year:

5.3 million litres

“The Hydrofinity technology is truly amazing! Equally impressive is the company behind it. Hydrofinity has absolutely delivered on promises of savings and superior performance.” David Eisenman, General Manager, Hyatt Regency Reston.