Water

Saving water for Hilton Istanbul (Turkey)

Saving a valuable resource by treating grey water. Hitachi Infrastructure Systems helps Hilton Istanbul achieve sustainability goals

The Hilton Istanbul opened in 1955 and is the first International 5 Star Hotel in Turkey and the longest serving Hilton Hotel outside the Americas. It remains one of the premier hotels in Istanbul, with 499 rooms. The hotel is part of Hilton Worldwide, the world's leading hospitality company, comprising ten brands and over 4,000 hotels. It operates in 90 countries and has more than 670,000 rooms worldwide. Since the Hilton Worldwide Brands touch thousands of communities and millions of people every day, sustainability is extremely important to their business philosophy. It is their goal to lead their industry with sustainable practices that help protect the world in which we live. One of these sustainability goals is to reduce water consumption by 10 per cent over a five year period. The Hilton Istanbul is at the forefront of this challenge, leading the way by using new technologies to save water. This Case Study will show you how.

Finding a way of reducing water consumption

Limitation of water source, the rapid population growth and urbanisation are placing stress on the water supplies of Istanbul. Meeting the water requirements every year is a critical issue for the authorities. Because of well water demand, ground water level shortage has become a problem. The cost of water in Istanbul is expensive and because it is a limited resource the cost is increasing year on year. This inevitably affects the costs of running businesses. This is a challenge that Hitachi recognise.

"Hilton Worldwide has a global sustainability policy and one of my roles in Turkey is to explore how we can reduce well water and surface water consumption and decrease our impact on the environment."

- Hamit Yalazer, Chief Engineer, Hilton Istanbul

A membrane bioreactor system to re-use grey water

Hitachi had to ensure that they supplied a water re-use system which could manage the variable demands of a hotel environment, where grey water flow varies throughout the day. There is much more grey water from sinks and showers early in the morning and then again in the evening, when people shower more. Therefore Hitachi installed flow valves, linked to a balancing tank which could store excess grey water ready for processing.

"Hitachi designers prepared detailed drawings and all the technical specifications for the installation. All the equipment, high quality pipework and fittings for the system were supplied by Hitachi in Japan."

- Neslihan Tekmen, Group Business Development Specialist, Hitachi Europe Ltd, Turkey Branch

"The Hitachi membrane bioreactor treatment system is a water filtration process, providing features such as space saving, easy operation and energy efficiency.

The membrane unit consists of a series of membrane modules for filtering the grey water and an air diffusing unit for cleaning the membranes."

- Beliz Mutlu Turcali, Project Manager, Hitachi Infrastructure Systems Company

A successful solution which reduces the hotel's water consumption

The grey water treatment, using the Hitachi membrane bioreactor unit was installed and commissioned during May 2011.

It is connected to 240 of the hotel rooms and will be connected to the remaining rooms over the coming years.

The unit is now processing between 75 and 85 cubic metres of grey water each day. This grey water, from wash basins and showers, is processed and used to flush toilets and to irrigate the Hilton's 15 acres of gardens.

The processed water quality is regularly tested by laboratories, licensed by the Turkey's Ministry of Health, to ensure it meets essential quality standards.

"We constantly measure the performance of the unit and over a two year period it has successfully processed over 60,000 cubic metres of water and has the capacity to process even more.

The savings we have made over this period, with only 240 rooms connected mean that we have already recovered our initial investment."

- Hamit Yalazer, Chief Engineer, Hilton Istanbul

About Hilton Istanbul

The Hilton Istanbul opened in 1955 and was the first five star hotel in Europe. It remains one of the premier hotels in Istanbul. It has 499 rooms and because of it's pre-eminent position has a 12 month occupancy rate. It is set in 15 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens.

The hotel is part of Hilton Worldwide, which is one of the world's leading hospitality companies, comprising ten brands and over 4,000 hotels. It operates in 90 countries and has more than 670,000 rooms worldwide.

Sustainability is extremely important to Hilton Worldwide's business philosophy. It is their goal to lead their industry with sustainable practices to help protect the world in which we all live.

Hilton Istanbul

About Hitachi Infrastructure Systems Company

Hitachi Infrastructure Systems Company provides total solutions, including social and industrial infrastructures. We contribute to the global society by providing solutions that match the needs of customers and communities in a wide range of infrastructure sectors.

Within social infrastructure our products include electric power systems, railways, water supply, sewage systems and roads. Within industrial infrastructure our products include systems for steel, chemical, automotive and other production facilities.

As a systems integrator that fuses information and control technologies, we will provide a one stop solution to our customers, from engineering, design and development of hardware and software to installation, maintenance and service.

Hitachi Infrastructure Systems Company