in Vienna, where drinking water flows from springs, residents fear no shortage this summer

In Austria, the locality of Kaiserbrunn, located about a hundred kilometers south-west of Vienna, is part of the Alpine domain bought by the Austrian capital more than a century ago. It is an area as vast as Vienna with no industry, no commerce and almost no tourism with one objective: to preserve the 70 sources of drinking water in the center.œur of this area.

This area was sanctuarized by the municipality of Vienne, long before the questions of global warming. The city intends more than ever to preserve it. It gives him the possibility of having access to pure and abundant water.

A flow rate of 1000 liters per second

Within this area is the Kaiserbrunnquelle, one of the water sources. “This drinking water comes from the precipitation that is deposited on the surface of the mountain, whether it is rain in summer or snow in winter.“, explains Hans Tobler on behalf of the municipal water company Wiener Wasser. “This water then seeps into the ground and then finds its way through the mountain. The flow of the Kaiserbrunn spring is approximately 1,000 liters per second and we are currently only sending half to Vienna“, he adds.

“This water comes to the gates of Vienna without pumping. The whole system has been designed in a very ingenious way with a continuous slope.”

Hans Tobler on behalf of the municipal water company Wiener Wasser

at franceinfo

This water requires little treatment due to its purity. It will join the 31 reservoirs of Vienna according to an ingenious system which was set up under the Austro-Hungarian Empire with one advantage: it emits no CO2 emissions. “When the distribution canal was built between 1870 and 1873, the pipe and the altitude were calculated very precisely to be able to arrive as high as possible in Vienna so that the water could be distributed from the reservoirs to the consumers there again by gravity “, describes Hans Tobler.

No rationing until 2050

Two million Viennese benefit from this water of exceptional quality at a very affordable price. And the Austrian capital is preparing for the future. The city has adopted a strategy until 2050, which includes no rationing. “On the one hand, we plan to make better use of the sources that supply Vienna with water and on the other hand to significantly increase the storage capacities.“, explains Jürgen Czernohorszky is the deputy for the environment.

The city of Vienna expects a 15% increase in consumption due to the growth of the city and global warming. “In addition to this, we invest tens of millions of euros each year to renovate the pipes so as not to have losses.“, he specifies. Access to drinking water is even guaranteed in the constitution of the city.