World Water Day: Our groundwater - the invisible treasure
On World Water Day, the world remembers the most important source of drinking water: our groundwater. Here in Teningen, we understand how to best sustainably protect the underground water reservoirs.
Did you know? Around 70 percent of Germany's drinking water comes from underground groundwater reservoirs. However, despite Germany being one of the most water-rich countries, the levels of water reservoirs are decreasing across the country due to climate change and intensive water use by humans. On March 22, World Water Day raises awareness of the need to protect our groundwater - the invisible treasure.
During the extreme heat and drought years of 2018 to 2020, groundwater levels in Germany plummeted. Even extended periods of rain are nowhere insufficient to replenish them. Rainwater can take months to traverse the earth's surface, percolating through various soil and rock layers before reaching the underground water reservoirs. While groundwater is replenished in many cases, increasing consumption and climate change with ever-hotter temperatures are depleting natural water reservoirs. Whether in private households, in industry or in agriculture - the levels of our groundwater reservoirs are strained every day. Each of us consumes an average of 123 liters of drinking water in just one day. A significant amount!
Protecting groundwater through infiltration
However, there are now very good ways to protect our groundwater sustainably. With GRAF infiltration systems, for example. These release the water into the ground in a controlled manner. This means that the water actually ends up in the groundwater. And as the systems are not connected to the sewer network, rainwater charges can also be saved.
Additionally, this system can be integrated with a rainwater harvesting system. The principle is simple: in the event of heavy rainfall, which is unfortunately becoming increasingly frequent and which our soil cannot absorb, the overflow from a GRAF rainwater tank is fed into the infiltration system. This system also prevents flooding - and is doubly sustainable. This is because our products are largely made from recycled plastic.
It’s worth noting that simply conserving water also plays a crucial role in protecting our groundwater. Everyday activities such as toilet flushing, washing machines and garden irrigation consume precious drinking water. By installing a rainwater tank, private households can replace up to 50 percent of their drinking water with rainwater - around 65 liters of water per person per day. So even small steps are significant for our global groundwater reservoir. By the way, GRAF customers around the world are already saving 280 million liters of drinking water every day- and the numbers are growing.
