Water

Management approach

Water plays a key role at Geberit. The company’s greatest lever in terms of sustainability, the resilience of water systems and the indirect reduction of energy consumption and CO₂ emissions lies in the development of water-saving products.

Impacts, risks and opportunities

According to industry associations, around one-third of daily household water consumption is attributed to toilet flushes, while 25 to 35% is used for personal hygiene. Sanitary products therefore have a significant impact on water consumption and local water resources. According to the Global Risk Report 2025 published by the World Economic Forum (WEF), water scarcity is among the ten highest global risks over the next ten years.

For Geberit, risks are primarily limited to ceramic production, where water availability could be restricted at certain locations. To address this, the company continuously invests in resource-efficient, energy- and water-saving production. The responsible use of water offers the sanitary technology specialist significant potential for growth and differentiation in particular.

Management system

Almost 100% of the water consumed by Geberit can be attributed to the product use phase, i.e. the downstream value chain. In particular, the water demand of WC systems is a significant factor. The company therefore consistently develops and distributes water-saving products in order to reduce water consumption. For example, water-saving solutions such as dual-flush and stop-and-go cisterns have, according to a model calculation, decreased flush volumes since 1952 by around 80%. For further information, see Eco-design.

In Geberit’s own production, the environmental impact of water consumption plays a minor role, accounting for just 0.5% of the total impact. Nevertheless, Geberit’s own water consumption is continuously optimised, for example, through the reuse of water in laboratories and production processes. Ceramic production accounts for the biggest share of internal water consumption.

As part of the annually completed questionnaire for the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the Group also discloses environmentally relevant information on water.

Water withdrawal and water consumption

Geberit uses the terms “water consumption” and “water withdrawal” synonymously. By using the term “water consumption”, the company refers to actual “water withdrawal”, meaning the amount of water taken from natural sources (such as rivers, lakes, groundwater), regardless of whether it is returned to the cycle after use or not. The amount of water permanently removed from availability through evaporation or seepage (actual “water consumption”) is defined as “water evaporation”.

In the reporting year, water consumption in production increased from 850,178 m³ to 880,759 m³, representing a 3.6% rise compared to the previous year. This increase is due to higher production volumes. The withdrawn water consists of drinking water (33.9%), well water (43.4%), lake and river water (21.9%), and rainwater (0.8%). Geberit regularly assesses the extent to which its sites are affected by water risks. According to the Water Risk Atlas from the World Resources Institute (WRI), six production sites (Gaeta (IT), Koło and Ozorków (PL), Michigan City (USA), Shanghai (CN) and Pune (IN)) are located in areas with high water stress, accounting for 18% of the total water withdrawn. 16% of the withdrawn water was treated and reused. Key figures concerning water consumption by source can be found at Tables of key figures > Environmental matters.

The manufacture of ceramic sanitary appliances accounts for around 80% of water consumption, above all for the preparation of the ceramic slip and glaze, and for cleaning the moulds. Water consumption per kilogram of ceramic increased in the reporting year by 5.8% to 7.5 l/kg. 5 to 10% of the water is reused here, corresponding to around 73,400 m³ in the reporting year.

Another major water consumer, with 65,924 m³ in the reporting year, is the sanitary laboratory in Rapperswil-Jona (CH). Around 96% of the water used for testing is reused, which amounted to 63,695 m³ in the reporting year. In addition, water is used for processes such as steam foaming, cleaning, powder coating and in the sanitary facilities.

Thanks to numerous process optimisations, water consumption in production has decreased by a total of 24.7% compared to the reference year 2015, see figure:

Around 75% of the withdrawn water becomes waste water, while 25% evaporates into the atmosphere, for example, during cooling processes and drying, see Tables of key figures > Environmental matters.

Waste water

All process waste water and domestic waste water is treated. Process waste water undergoes sedimentation and filtration before being fed into the sewage system or a body of water. Particularly contaminated waste water, such as from powder coating, electroplating, or metal cleaning, is treated in a dedicated purification stage before also being fed into the sewage system.

In 2024, the volume of waste water amounted to 670,334 m³ (previous year 645,851 m³). The largest share was process waste water (74.3%) from ceramic appliance production, followed by domestic waste water (24.1%). The remaining waste water, which is pretreated and fed into a communal waste water treatment plant, accounts for a minor share of 1.6%. Waste water was not reused by external companies. Detailed key figures on waste water can be found at Tables of key figures > Environmental matters.