Out of Sight, Top of Mind

This article defines tourism facility broadly as a lodging accommodation that caters to a wide spectrum of vacationing guests. These facilities range from remote mountain retreats in the wilderness of Canada to secluded tropical beach resorts in the South Pacific. They include campgrounds, national and regional parks, golf courses and wellness communities, and other tourism-related lodging.

Having a well-functioning WRRF aligns with the overall goals of tourism facilities. To start, the facility needs to remain compliant with regulations so the property can stay open for business and generate revenue. But once compliance is achieved, the goal of any tourism facility — especially during the pandemic — should be to maintain the health and safety of its guests in all...

An accommodation that’s clean and sanitary, with a WRRF that is invisible to guests, is critical to any tourism experience. For this reason, a major goal of most facility owners is keeping the WRRF “out of sight, out of mind” for guests. The ultimate hope is that guests never notice that there’s a working wastewater facility operating during their stay. This means the WRRF...

In contrast to the above, some tourist facility owners may choose to highlight their property’s commitment to sustainability, including the wastewater facilities. This can be a selling feature to attract environmentally conscious tourists. Many guests understand the effect of their carbon footprint when traveling, and they look for a lodging experience where that effect will be minimized. We...

The benefits of reusing treated effluent are financial, as well. Tourism facilities can consume water at very high rates, especially those properties that include pools, spas, fountains, and heavy irrigation (golf courses). Studies show that the average tourist can consume up to 10 times more water than locals while on vacation. This is especially true in the developing world, where per capita...

The final major goal for property owners is to keep the overall cost of operating and running the WRRF as low as possible and avoid any unnecessary additional investment. In remote areas where electricity is expensive (and sometimes generated on site), having a wastewater treatment system that’s extremely energy efficient or solar-powered can result in significant annual savings. Resource...

The fluctuation of influent flow described above is one of many wastewater challenges that a tourism facility must be prepared to manage. Accommodating wide ranges of flow — whether weekly or seasonal — is not simple and is a critical factor to consider during design. Treatment systems with a shortened hydraulic retention time have difficulty meeting effluent requirements when flows...

Larger tourism facilities, such as luxury resorts and golf courses within planned communities, are frequently developed in stages over time. From both cashflow and design perspectives, it is ideal when infrastructure has the ability to expand as each phase is constructed. Wastewater collection, piping, and treatment is no exception, and should be designed to be modular and flexible as growth...

The operation and maintenance of WRRFs is an often-overlooked component of tourism facility processes. Failure to have such processes in place can result in headaches and negative financial effects. This is especially the case for hotels and resorts built in remote areas, where the importance of having a reliable and simple-to-operate solution is accentuated.

Other unique obstacles that tourism property owners face include locations where severe weather disruptions such as hurricanes, tropical storms, flooding, blizzards, ice storms, or high winds are annual occurrences. In these harsh environments, WRRFs must be resilient and well-built to hold up to Mother Nature.