Grand Hyatt Atlanta has partnered with a local plumbing company and Southern Polytechnic State University to install a rain harvest system. With an investment of $95,000 and a partnership with the university’s International Knowledge and Research Center (IKRC), this effort means to reduce water costs while making the hotel more environmentally friendly.
 

Three students at the university researched and calculated the local annual average rainfall for this project50 inches yearly. They also did an engineering drawing of the new catchment system to show the placement of the pipes and tanks that make up the system.
With a main installation on the 32,000-square-foot third floor roof, the system catches and recycles both rainwater and condensation through a series of drains-storing it in tanks housed at the hotel. These tanks hold up to 30,000 gallons and will primarily be used for the hotels cooling tower-lessening the amount of city water needed.
The harvesting system is expected to gather 992,000 gallons of water per year for total annual savings of $26,050.
“Atlanta has some of the highest water rates in the country and we also are very mindful of the carbon footprint of the hotel,” says Wes Shirley, director of engineering at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta. “A rain harvest system made both financial and socially responsible sense for us.”
