puteus GmbH was founded in 1979 by the parents of the current shareholders in Meerbusch Lank-Latum as a craft business in well construction. It soon became apparent that there was an increasing demand for spare parts and accessories in the field of percussion well construction. As a result, the trading area was continuously expanded.
A first move to Krefeld-Stratum offered better and larger storage capacities. But it soon became clear that only product diversification would enable further success. The company concentrated on the entire garden irrigation sector and successfully established international contacts. From 1984 to 1988, the first business relationships were established with partners outside Europe and the distribution of water-bearing products was expanded via the intermediate wholesale trade. After the death of the father in 1988, the sons Hans and Peter de Gruyter - at that time still a student and pupil respectively - took over the business and expanded it with great commitment and motivation into a pure trading company.
The “puteus starter article”, the nostalgic hand pump with the well-known (p), and other articles already had a market share of more than 80% in Europe at the time.