Innovative water use at Karoo-based Aquila Private Game Reserve and Spa

1 Mar 2018

In solidarity with its Cape Town counterparts, Aquila Private Game Reserve and Spa has taken the current water crisis extremely seriously. While the Breede Valley municipal region has not been flagged as a water crisis zone, the Karoo-based Big 5 safari destination in Touws River has, since its inception, treated the commodity with respect and sustainability.

Spa Indoor Pool (Image Supplied)

Aquila is the internationally recognised Imvelo award winner for sustainable tourism measures implemented by a large tourism establishment - and these measures include water and energy management.

Water saving measures undertaken at the reserve, include:

• Clear messaging on all confirmed bookings prior to arrival to ensure guests use water sparingly during their Aquila visit.

• We have installed in-room ‘water crisis’ notifications to give guests tips to use less water during their stay.

• We also only replace towels at the request of the guest during an overnight stay.

• We furthermore removed bath plugs from rooms that have both a bath and shower option – with clear notices requesting use of a two-minute shower.

• Our communal areas make use of non-potable water (only when absolutely needed), and we have also installed key messaging at communal areas to make visitors aware of the water usage policies.

• All communal gardens have been changed to remove any vegetation requiring excessive water, and succulents, which occur naturally in the Karoo, have been used throughout the property.

Further measures to reduce bulk water consumption are currently being investigated.

Aquila Pool Bar (Image Supplied)

Innovative water use

Aquila recently had to do mandatory repairs and maintenance to the swimming pool and made use of innovative water bladders to not waste a single drop of water. The entire 35m pool was emptied into large water bladders, and after repairs was refilled with the very same water.

Karoo water supply management and infrastructure are complicated and fragile. Aquila uses a mix of municipal supplied potable water, its own limited supply groundwater, rainwater, and non-potable water. The municipal boundaries of the Cape Town crisis management zone do not apply to the Touws River region and Aquila.