Greywater Recycling and Rainwater Harvesting for Hotels and Villas

The Riviera Maya gets well over a metre of rain a year, most of it between June and November, and still many areas face water cuts, tanker trucks and rising tariffs. Capturing roof water and recycling greywater from showers and laundry can cover irrigation, toilets and pool top-up, and in many villas a large share of total demand. We design the system with the building: gutters, cisterns, filtration, separate networks and controls.

Rooftop terrace built by Recrea Construction in the Riviera Maya — A Recrea Construction project

2026 costs: rainwater harvesting for a villa (10–40 m³ cistern, filtration, pump) $80,000–$450,000 MXN; greywater recycling for a villa $90,000–$400,000 MXN; combined system for a hotel or condo with dual plumbing and treatment $1.5M–$6M MXN. Cheapest when built in from the start.

What We Design and Build

Rainwater Capture

Roof and terrace drainage, first-flush diverters, leaf screens and sizing to rainfall records.

Cisterns

Underground concrete or modular cisterns, waterproofed and sealed against mosquitoes and contamination.

Greywater Recycling

Collection from showers, basins and laundry, filtration and disinfection for safe non-potable reuse.

Dual Plumbing

Separate, colour-coded networks for potable and reused water, with backflow protection.

Irrigation

Drip and subsurface irrigation fed by reused water, with controllers and rain sensors.

Monitoring

Level sensors, automatic switch-over to municipal supply and consumption tracking.

What reuse can realistically cover

Toilets, irrigation, laundry pre-wash, pool top-up and cleaning are the uses that do not need drinking-quality water, and together they are often 40–60% of a villa’s demand and a big share of a hotel’s. Rainwater can also become drinking water with reverse osmosis and UV. Because rain falls mostly in summer and autumn, cistern size is the key decision: we model rainfall and demand month by month so the system does not run dry in the spring dry season.

Build it in, don’t bolt it on

Dual plumbing costs little in new construction and a lot in a finished building.
Cisterns are best placed during excavation, when the rock is already open.
Roof design (slopes, gutters, materials) determines how much clean water you collect.

For hotels, reuse also helps with environmental authorisations and sustainability certifications.

Reuse Systems and Costs (2026)

System	Covers	Project	Cost (MXN)
Rainwater harvesting	Irrigation, toilets, pool; potable with RO	Villa	$80k–$450k
Greywater recycling	Toilets and irrigation	Villa	$90k–$400k
Combined system	All non-potable uses	Hotel / condo	$1.5M–$6M

Useful pages: Wastewater Treatment Plants · Water Purification & Desalination · Villa Wastewater Systems · Wastewater rules in karst · Home water supply & filtering

Why Owners Work With Recrea

18+ years and 196 projects in the Riviera Maya, written one-year warranty
Design, civil works, equipment and start-up under one contract, with one project lead
Permits handled: CONAGUA discharge and well concessions, municipal licence, environmental files
Built for karst: watertight tanks, leak testing and no untreated discharge to the aquifer
Operation and maintenance plans, operator training and lab-tested effluent at handover

WhatsApp — 2 min

Call: 984 452 5333

Tell us about your building

Frequently Asked Questions

In 2026 a villa system with a 10–40 m³ cistern, filtration and pump costs about $80,000–$450,000 MXN depending on cistern size and whether it is built in new construction or retrofitted.

Yes, for toilets and irrigation, when it is filtered, disinfected and kept in a separate network. It should not be used for drinking or showers.

It depends on roof area, rainfall and demand. Because most rain falls between June and November, we size the cistern on a month-by-month model so stored water lasts into the dry season.

Yes. Irrigation and laundry reuse are usually simple to add; toilet reuse requires a separate network, which is easiest during a renovation.

Get a water reuse proposal

Month-by-month model, cistern sizing and savings estimate. Reply in 2 minutes.

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Rainwater harvestingGreywater recyclingDual plumbingIrrigation reuseLower water bills18+ Years