Eco-friendly Standard with In-house Filtered Drinking Water

A very important initiative for sustainability and luxury go hand-in-hand. The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong announces the full introduction of its own in-house filtered, purified premium bottled water in partnership with Sweden’s leading fresh water specialist, Nordaq FRESH.

The filtered, purified water is available in the guestrooms and suites, and the hotel’s F&B outlets Amber, MO Bar and PDT, and The Oriental Spa have started serving the in-house filtered water. 

The Nordaq FRESH water filtration process is unrivalled in the market. The patented technology ensures the removal of impurities and unwanted flavours from tap water, while retaining natural salts and minerals. This produces a unique water that is balanced in flavour and refreshing to the palate.  It also eliminates the need for single use bottles and reduces carbon emissions generated by transporting bottled mineral water from Europe to Hong Kong.

Nordaq FRESH water is bottled on-site using local tap water, which is purified as it passes through a patented filter system. The water is cooled and served “still or sparkling” in beautiful, reusable glass bottles.

“The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong is proud to be the first hotel in the city to invest in the Nordaq FRESH system that enables water to be filtered on the hotel’s premises, significantly reducing the environmental impact associated with delivering water.” says Archie Keswick, General Manager of the hotel.  “We want to offer the very best experience to our guests in terms of location, service, food and water.  

“Current use of plastic is simply not sustainable,” Mr Keswick continues, “5.2 million plastic bottles are disposed of in Hong Kong daily. Green Earth estimates that as more than enough to fill 2 Olympic-sized swimming pools. We were using over 500 bottles a day and knew the best way to stop that was by collaborating with Nordaq FRESH.”

Traditional bottled waters have a huge negative impact on our environment, from the fossil fuels used in the production of the bottle and its transportation to the disposal of non-reusable, non-biodegradable bottles, often in landfill. Much of the plastic ends up as marine litter that marine animals often mistake as food and ingest it, causing harm to their health. Recent reports have also identified micro plastics in tap water around the world.

Introduced in stages starting in late 2017, the process of phasing out use of plastic bottles at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong started with freshly filtered and purified drinking water served in reusable glass bottles in guestrooms and suites.  This month the project is expanding throughout the hotel to include Amber, MO Bar & PDT and The Oriental Spa and continue to expand to all guestrooms and suites.

“We work with sustainable ingredients so it makes perfect sense to have the very best quality sustainable water supply,” says Michelin-starred Culinary Director Richard Ekkebus. “The flavour is also exceptional which is why restaurants holding a total of 172 stars in the Michelin-star Guide, and 12 of the top 50 restaurants on the List of the Worlds’ 50 best restaurants, serve Nordaq FRESH.”

The in-house filtered, purified premium bottled water has already proved extremely popular with hotel guests well aware of the urgent need to reduce plastic waste and our carbon footprint. 

The project, which includes a short informational video, is part of an on-going commitment to sustainability that includes the hotel replacing plastic straws in beverages with bamboo ones since 2016.