Vienna's Water Supply - The Journey of Vienna's Drinking Water

Vienna's drinking water originates in the Lower Austrian-Styrian Alps. The spring zone of the First Vienna Spring Water Main comprises the mountains Schneeberg, Rax and Schneealpe, while the spring zone of the Second Vienna Spring Water Main encompasses the Hochschwab Massif. Something close to a full circle was created by tapping the Pfannbauern Spring situated in the eastern foothills of the Hochschwab Massif and feeding it into the First Vienna Spring Water Main. The two spring zones cover 675 square kilometres.

Vienna Water - Future Treasure (Short Version) - YouTube

Without pumps into the city

The water reaches Vienna without pumps through galleries (some of which were cut through sheer rock) by exploiting the natural drop resulting from the difference in altitude. The gravitational energy is even made use of along the course of the pipeline to generate electricity. Due to extensive spring protection, the water needs no treatment.

Best drinking water

Vienna finds itself in the unique situation of covering almost all of its drinking water demand from mountain springs; only a small portion is obtained by means of groundwater works. As a result, Vienna uses groundwater only in case of spring water main repairs, severe pipeline damage or extremely high water consumption volumes during hot spells.