Q&A: How to Stop Letting Water Costs Soak Your Bottom Line

Lessons from Drury Hotels, the University of Arizona and the power of data-driven energy management

Water and sewer costs are rising fast, and aging infrastructure, climate volatility, and limited municipal funding are only adding to the pressure. In this Smart Energy Decisions (SED) webinar, panelists from Drury Hotels and the University of Arizona joined EnergyCAP’s team to share how they’re addressing water waste, preventing overbilling, and saving big using utility data. This Q&A-style summary captures the best insights, including how energy management systems support smarter utility oversight.

• Watch the recording of the webinar “Drury Inn and University of Arizona: Don’t Let Water Costs Soak Your Bottom Line”

Q: What trends are you seeing in water and sewer rate increases?

Tim Steinborn (Drury Hotels): “We’ll typically see 2% to 4% increases each year… sometimes it’s 30%.”

Erik Reinold (University of Arizona): “Tucson is implementing a 5.5% increase year-over-year… And on top of that, living in Arizona in the desert, and living where water is [mainly] supplied off of the Colorado River, I think everybody knows the issues that are going on there with the seven states fighting for that water.”

Tim highlighted the variability in rate increases across Drury’s 27-state footprint, while Erik noted that Tucson is already seeing a compounded 22% hike. He added that Arizona’s dependence on the contested Colorado River adds further complexity to long-term water planning.

Q: Are utility vendor relationships important?

Tim Steinborn: “You want to maintain good relationships…it’s quicker resolution of issues, and they might be a guest at our hotel.”

Erik Reinold: “With municipalities, there’s often no clear contact, which slows down resolution.”

While Drury Hotels relies on relationships for smooth issue resolution, Erik pointed out that municipal utilities often lack direct contacts, creating delays that must be overcome with strong internal processes.

Q: How do you take advantage of rebates or utility incentives?

Tim Steinborn: “Our building team factors rebates into every new build and renovation cycle–which happens every 7-10 years.”

Erik Reinold: “Our energy management team is constantly looking…whether it’s water-efficient fixtures or faucet retrofits.”

Both the University of Arizona and Drury Hotels actively pursue rebates. For the university, it’s embedded into sustainability operations. For Drury, it’s built into long-term capital planning.

Q: What operational issues lead to unexpected water waste?

Tim Steinborn: “A solenoid valve sticks open, and suddenly a water softener dumps water 24/7.”

Erik Reinold: “A misread meter led to a $91,000 bill…we caught it thanks to our own metering.”

From stuck valves to invisible leaks, many costly issues go unnoticed without real-time monitoring. Erik’s team even caught a six-figure billing error that was only identified because of their internal checks.

Q: What role does data play in preventing waste and overcharges?

Tim Steinborn: “If you put garbage in, you’ll get garbage out.”

Erik Reinold: “We flagged and fixed a $15,000 overcharge the same day.”

Clean, reliable data is the foundation of good utility management. Both panelists shared how they’ve prevented serious overcharges by relying on their energy systems to identify issues fast.

Q: What’s been your biggest water-saving win?

Tim Steinborn: “We got $21,000 back from a leak that was caught before it entered the building.”

Erik Reinold: “We stopped a chilled water leak that was literally going down the drain.”

These stories prove the value of data-informed vigilance. Whether above ground or underground, leaks were caught early and resolved before they turned into long-term losses.

Q: What are your top tips for benchmarking or planning upgrades?

Erik Reinold: “We meter everything. Without it, you can’t act in time.”

Tim Steinborn: “We reassess every system during renovations.”

Metering and ongoing review allow both organizations to benchmark performance and spot gaps early. Renovation windows are leveraged for technology upgrades and efficiency gains.

Q: What do you say to executives about investing in a system like this?

Erik Reinold: “With limited staff, we needed a tool to catch things early.”

Tim Steinborn: “Utilities are one of our top-three expenses. We need control.”

Tom Dilliberti: “They want ROI — and they’ll get it. But the real value is the culture change it drives.”

Across the board, ROI, efficiency, and cross-departmental alignment were the biggest selling points. The system empowers small teams and gives executives confidence in budget oversight.

Data is the front line of utility expense management

This webinar made one thing clear: you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Drury Hotels and the University of Arizona both demonstrated how collecting the right data (and having the right system to analyze it) leads to meaningful cost avoidance, faster decisions, and fewer surprises. Whether it’s catching billing errors, benchmarking usage, or planning smarter capital upgrades, data makes it possible.

• Want to stop letting water costs soak your budget? Book a call with one of our Energy Specialists!