Environmental Initiatives

Water Conservation

At Steenberg, we recognise the need to conserve water. Because of this, we have implemented and invested in many water saving initiatives and projects, namely:

  • Installation of 6 water meters on the estate which log our water usage every 15 minutes. This enables us to stop leaks timeously and focus on our usage needs.
  • Harvesting of rainwater from the cellar roof.
  • Converting old cement wine tanks to a water reservoir with a 5 stage filtration to make sure drinking water is safe and clean.
  • Installation of an effluent treatment plant to clean all the cellar wash water to flush the guest toilets for the tasting room and Bistro 1682. We are able to switch between the treated effluent and dam water to flush toilets thereby eliminating our use of potable water for the toilets.
  • The pools in the front of the tasting room and Bistro 1682 are topped up with filtered dam water.
  • All gardens are irrigated with non-potable water from our dam on the farm.
  • Our swimming pool is still operational and we have a pool cover to prevent water loss. We only remove the pool cover on guests’ request (when they wish to swim).
  • Up until now, we have filled the pool with rain water, as we remove the cover when it is raining.
  • All our bath plugs have been removed and bath plugs are only issued upon guests’ request. This is explained during the rooming process and our reasons behind this.
  • There is clear signage informing / reminding guests of the water situation in our public areas, guest directories and is also mentioned during rooming of guests.
  • For our car wash / valet services we have been using waterless car wash.
  • In our Spa, our steam room and bath treatments are no longer available. All other Spa experiences (treatments) are available.
  • We have changed laundry service providers to ensure that our suppliers meet our water and environmental conservation requirements.
  • By changing our detergent and colour wash cycles, we are saving 4300 litres of water per day.
  • We are currently installing a borehole on the Steenberg Hotel property which means we would use substantially less municipal water.
  • We are in the process of changing our basin and shower heads from normal water restrictors to water saving restrictors in our hotel rooms and spa as well as in our staff areas.

We have implemented these measures to not only safeguard this most precious resource, but to also continue offering our guests an authentic Steenberg experience which will not be affected by the restriction of our municipal water supply.

If you have any questions about our initiatives, you can contact us on 021 713 2211 or marketing@steenbergfarm.com