Hilton, Malta

This five-star “eco” hotel in Portomaso, St Julian’s, has been progressively eliminating chlorine from its swimming pools as part of its sustainability programme.

The only EU eco-labelled hotel, Hilton Malta has four outdoor pools, two children’s pools and an indoor pool at its Living Well Health Club.

The hotel began trialling PoolSan in 2007 in two of its outdoor pools. Following microbiological tests — all showing nil bacteria — and local health authority endorsements, the hotel converted a third outdoor pool to the chlorine-free system last year.

This summer, the hotel plans to introduce PoolSan to its indoor pool and begin testing the product in 1100m3 sea water pool, which is used by up to 2000 people a day.

Chief Engineer at the hotel, Joseph Restall, is delighted with switching to a non-toxic and environmental alternative to chlorine.

Throughout these two and a half years, the micro-biological tests have shown that the system effectively controls bacteria. PoolSan also effectively controls algae without the need for additional algaecide.

Most importantly, waste water from the pool back wash can be re-used for irrigation — and this has had a very positive impact on water consumption, helping us reduce the impact of the hotel on the environment.