Water – the source of life

The German government wants to lay the foundations for modern water management with its national water strategy, which was adopted on March 15, 2023. This is because the consequences of the climate crisis are already being felt, and Germany's natural water reserves need to be protected. "The last summers of drought had a serious impact on our forests, agriculture and biodiversity in Germany." - Quote from the introductory text to the National Water Strategy. More information on the specific goals and measures of the strategy can be found here .

Water management is, of course, important, for our EMAS certification as well. However, from an environmental protection point of view, it does not play a major role at our company headquarters in Tettnang.

Here, water is used exclusively for sanitation and in the lab for waterproof testing and washing tests and then discharged into the municipal sewage system. Water consumption is recorded by our water utility and regularly assessed.

In our Made in Germany production facility, no water is needed for processing so we do not recycle or reuse water here.

We use the water from a 20,000 liter rainwater tank as service water, e.g. for toilet flushing. We only use tap water if the rainwater tank is empty.

Water consumption at VAUDE increased by almost 30 percent in 2022. This was due to the fact that after the Corona-related home office period in the previous year, many employees were working in the office again and consuming water there. The number of employees also increased again (8 percent more employees than in 2021). At the same time, the hot summer led to less rainwater, so more tap water had to be used.

The total water supply for our Tettnang-Obereisenbach headquarters is provided by the municipal water utility. The source of our drinking water is a groundwater aquifer from the Bodnegg District.

In the water protection area, rainfall amounts ensure adequate groundwater renewal. The natural cycle is not disturbed by groundwater extraction.

The groundwater is so well protected by natural means from environmental influences that it is possible to directly feed pumped water without treatment into our distribution network. 

Rainwater is collected in two ponds on the company premises that are available for fire safety. They are wonderful biotopes for amphibians and are also used by employees as a rest area and for tadpole observation of the childcare center.

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