New toilets help Palm Springs hotel save water

One Palm Springs Hotel is implementing a unique technique to save water during the current drought.

Mother Nature may help California with the drought this weekend, but the Palm Springs Hilton is also offering some relief.

The hotel partnered with the Desert Water Agency to conserve water. It’s dumping old toilets that use three gallons per flush and replacing them with new ‘Stealth’ toilets that use less than a gallon.

General Manager Aftab Dada said, “Running a very high occupancy with 260+ rooms, it’ll be a huge savings, not only for the Hilton, but for the Coachella Valley.”

Officials with the Desert Water Agency agree.

“Toilets are obviously a big water use in a hotel, and in Palm Springs we have a lot of hotels, so this is one way we can try to address the hospitality industry’s need to conserve,” said Katie Ruark with the D.W.A.

If anyone’s worried about efficiency, the reviews are in.

The hotel tested out the new toilets in two of the most highly occupied rooms for a few weeks. Guests said the toilets get the job done in one flush.

“We had perfect results, we had no issues, no challenges,” said Dada.

The new system also cuts down on bathroom noise.

The general manager said, “Our doors between the rooms are very thin and this will help when someone flushes, the sound won’t travel.”

D.W.A. is caulking up the money for this program through state grants and says it may be willing to help other hotels take the plunge.

“If this works well, we may look at other ways to expand this into new opportunities for other hotels,” Ruark said.