Description
Refill Deutschland is a non-profit initiative that shows where anyone can refill a water bottle with tap water for free: shops, cafés, offices and public buildings put a blue Refill sticker on the door and fill bottles on request. It is an alternative to buying bottled water in plastic bottles.
The idea comes from the British organisation City to Sea, which started Refill in 2015. It came to Germany in 2017 in Hamburg as a volunteer movement, and since summer 2023 it has been coordinated by a tip: tap e.V., a Berlin non-profit that has promoted tap water since 2010 and employs more than 20 people. Local Refill groups recruit stations, and the website says there are about 8,000 across Germany. They appear on the Karte von morgen, an open map of sustainable places, under the tag “refill-station”.
Any business with fixed opening hours can join: it reads the hygiene sheet, puts up a sticker it can print itself or order, and registers on the map without an account. Private homes can’t be stations, and a station may refuse a refill, for instance if a bottle isn’t clean or someone brings a canister. Tap water in Germany is checked under the Drinking Water Ordinance; Refill Deutschland doesn’t test the water itself, and each station is responsible for its own hygiene.
Strengths
- Free drinking water on the go, without buying water in plastic bottles.
- Joining is simple for any shop or café: a sticker, a hygiene sheet and an entry on an open map.
- Run by a non-profit that is independent of companies and parties.
Weaknesses
- Coverage depends on local volunteer groups and is uneven, with many more stations in cities.
- The map shows at most 35 to 50 stations per area at a time, and stations without the right tag don’t appear.
- Users have to carry their own bottle, and a station may refuse a refill.
Who it is for
Anyone who drinks water on the go in Germany, especially in cities, and shops or cafés that want to offer free tap water.
Sources
- Refill Deutschland: was ist Refill, FAQ, werde Refill-Station, Karte, checked November 2026
- a tip: tap e.V.: über uns