ICT-based management of shower water use in Niamey hotels: research and development of a smart water-saving device (WSD) system

Abstract

Many cities in the world are expected to face freshwater shortages in the future due to population growth combined with urbanization and the related decline in renewable freshwater resources caused by the effects of climate change. Niamey, the capital of Niger is no exception. In addition to these three (3) phenomena which threaten water resources, there is also a waste of water, especially in urban areas. Thus, hotels are places in cities where a lot of water is wasted by guests. In this work, the average daily amount of shower water per customer in Niamey hotels was estimated and a smart water-saving device (WSD) system was developed for ICT-based and mitigation-driven shower water management in Niamey hotels. Water-saving devices are well-known examples of Environmentally Sound Technologies (ESTs) used for water conservation and water waste reduction. However, after collecting data from some representative hotels in Niamey, the average daily amount of shower water per guest was estimated at 92.07L. Then, by making some assumptions, it is shown that the smart water-saving device system can reduce the consumed shower water of Niamey hotels by up to about 45.70%.