Sustainability Report 2016 / 2017

Resource-preserving Water Center Clean water is an essential ingredient in the manufacture of de- tergents and cleaning products. Water is a highly valuable re- source. That’s why the Water Center at Werner & Mertz obtains water from the company’s own 70-meter-deep well and prepares it in a multi-step process to yield demineralized water that can be used in Production. Water is treated by reverse osmosis, which is a physical process in which water containing dissolved salts is forced through a semi-permeable membrane. The pure water can flow through while the salts collect in a liquid concentrate on the membrane. Compared to conventional processes in which soda lye and sodium hydroxide are used for demineralization, the reverse osmosis facilities are much kinder to the environment. For many years we have been able to eliminate chemical sub­ stances in water treatment. 33 Ecology