Precious and Delicious: Eggental Drinking Water

The splash of a mountain stream, a generous gulp from the fountain or a relaxing bath. Anyone who takes a holiday in the Dolomites will constantly find themselves coming into contact with water – with all of their senses. “Whenever we turn on the tap, top quality, fresh water always comes out,” says Roman Zelger. And, as the local water engineer in Deutschnofen, he knows that this is anything but a matter of course and just how much effort it takes.

But where, if not in the Eggental, should the drinking water be so good? After all, the precious commodity is in the valley’s name, given that the Ladin word “Ega” translates as water. Thirty-one springs supply around 3,300 households plus all of the guests that spend their best days of the year in the Eggental with excellent drinking water – which is constantly monitored and therefore always healthy.

“A privilege,” says Roman Zelger, who ensures, day in, day out, that the reservoirs are well filled and is always there if, as sometimes happens, a pipe needs to be mended. The water in the Eggental comes practically straight from the mountain; it is fed direct from the springs into the pipe system and then collects by gravity in the Eggental's water towers. One of the largest blends almost invisibly into the landscape near Deutschnofen’s weather cross.

Here alone, 1300 cubic metres of drinking water are stored in giant tanks, which would provide one person with enough water to shower uninterrupted for around 70 days. It reaches households in pure, fresh, natural and delicious condition and is constantly monitored along the way. Only UV filters, which are free from chemical additives, are used to ensure that the Eggental's drinking water is germ-free. Water engineer Roman Zelger explains that “locals and holidaymakers can draw clean, natural and fresh drinking water from every tap and water point at any time without a worry.”

And since this is the case, the Eggental water bottle can now be purchased from the tourist information offices and selected accommodations, mountain refuges and retail stores. Every time a bottle is filled this makes a contribution to protecting the environment by avoiding the transport of bottled water and the use of plastic packaging.

The Eggental water bottle is perfect both for carrying in your rucksack whilst hiking and ensuring that you always have enough drinking water from the Rosengarten and Latemar to hand in your hotel room. Everybody should drink at least 1.5 litres per day, and if doing sporting activities, considerably more. Eighteen water points in Welschnofen, Deutschnofen, Eggen, Obereggen, Steinegg, Petersberg and the Karersee settlement ensure that you won’t run out of the precious liquid on your travels.

An average consumption of more than 140 litres per day is normal for us. In contrast, according to a UN water report, for almost a quarter of the world's population, this is not the case. According to the report, over two billion people have no long-term safe and immediately available access to drinking water and have to walk for sometimes as much as 30 minutes to the nearest supply. Moreover, climate change is worsening extreme drought in many areas. 

Climate change is even making itself felt in the mountains, which is why the Deutschnofen water engineer, Roman Zelger, advises people to think about their water use and try to conserve it. “Strictly speaking, every one of us, both at home and on holiday, uses far too much water.” The Eggental may so far have been spared water shortages, but Zelger says, “Even if the supply here has always been secure until now, you never really have enough drinking water,”. Which is why the water engineer would like to see both locals and holidaymakers taking steps to conserve water whenever and wherever possible. “If everyone could save only a couple of litres a day, then that would add up to a huge amount.”

To make an active contribution towards this, Roman Zelger shares his five top tips with which everyone, be they on holiday or at home, can save water:

• Shower instead of bathing: a shower needs only about a third of the water of a full bath. Furthermore, low-flow shower heads help to reduce consumption.
• Don’t wash your towels every day: even if it is nice to have fresh towels in your hotel room every day, reducing the amount of laundry automatically helps to save water. In addition, modern washing machines work considerably more efficiently than older ones.
• Washing up: dish washers should only be used when they are full. If possible, don’t pre-wash your pots and pans. This is because machines use considerably less water than washing up by hand.
• Toilet: make consistent use of the economy button. This will significantly reduce water consumption at least when flushing “number ones”.
•  Dripping taps: if something starts leaking at home, then an immediate repair helps to prevent water from being wasted unnecessarily. A single dripping tap can cause excess consumption of 2000 litres per year.

Because the Eggental – where the UNESCO world heritage of the Dolomites can be seen in all its glory – is committed to sustainability, it isn’t just important to the water engineer, Roman Zelger, to raise awareness of nature, environmental protection and the careful use of water. Water is the elixir of life for plants, animals and us people. “We should always keep this in mind,” says Roman Zelger. And that includes during the special times – like your holiday in the Eggental.