In all our construction projects, we pursue the goal of ensuring a balanced approach between groundwater extraction and recirculation. As experienced specialists in groundwater management, the responsible and resource-efficient use of water our most valuable resource is of particular importance to us.
For us, sustainability means recycling extracted water and returning it to nature in the best possible way.
Water neutrality 1:1 The ratio of groundwater extraction to reinfiltration should be.
How we become water neutral
The principle of water neutrality at Hölscher
Water neutrality at Hölscher is based on the same basic idea as climate neutrality: creating a balanced equilibrium in which no more water is taken out than is returned.
In many of our construction projects, we extract large quantities of groundwater, which we return to the aquifer as completely as possible. For projects such as drinking water wells, where water is extracted without direct return, we implement compensatory measures – for example, through the targeted infiltration of rainwater into the soil.
Our goal is to achieve complete water neutrality contribute to the sustainable protection of water resource.
Our techniques
As experts in sustainable groundwater management, we use state-of-the-art, proven technologies to effectively infiltrate aquifertreated . Depending on the geological conditions and individual customer requirements we employ a variety of methods – from traditional injection wells and gravity infiltration to innovative, patented methods such as our jet suction infiltration (hw-dsi).
This enables us to provide efficient, tailor-made solutions for every location and every challenge.
Our motivation
As the European market leader in groundwater management, we extract large volumes of water annually over 54 million cubic meters in 2024 alone. To ensure that this valuable water is not lost to the natural groundwater cycle, we have made it our central task to create a sustainable balance.
As a family business, we act with a long term vision: We minimize our impact on the groundwater body and conserve increasingly scarce groundwater resources. At the same time, we continuously invest in research and development of innovative technologies – for example, for the effective refiltration of rainwater into the aquifer.
In this way, we shape the future of water responsibly and with a focus on the future.
How we achieve water neutrality
Measurement and balancing of water
The first step is to precisely record the amount of water we extract and re-infiltrate during our construction projects. Our reporting system is already digitized and standardized, allowing us to conduct comprehensive measurements and continuously optimize the database.
Optimization of refiltration technologies
We use state-of-the-art technologies to effectively return purified water to the aquifer We always geologicalconsider conditions and individual customer requirements. Our broad portfolio of processes is continuously expanded through ongoing research and innovation.
Project-related water balancing
In particularly water-scarce regions, we create trans regional- compensation through additional infiltration measures in other areas. In this way, we not only support water neutrality but also strengthen agricultural businesses and natural ecosystems. Water neutrality therefore does not necessarily have to be achieved in isolation for each individual project, but can be viewed.
Water neutrality in numbers
80 – We’ve already achieved 80% water neutrality in subprojects of the major Munich Second Main Line project. This means that a large portion of the water we extract during dewatering is returned to the aquifer after treatment.
32 – We re-infiltrated 32.3 million m3 of groundwater in 2024.
100 – 100% water neutrality is already being achieved in some projects, such as the water management for a residential complex on Angerstraße in Freising.
1000 – We record the water quantities from our approximately 1,000 construction projects each year and try to refilter as much water as possible.
