The highest quality from the Lower Austrian-Styrian Alps in Vienna

In my article Viennese Water – Part 1, I already reported on both of the mountain spring water pipelines that supplied Vienna with sufficient, clean water starting in 1910, which made a major contribution to improving public health at the time. This time, I’ll reveal how water gets into the capital city today and the water that awaits guests at the Schick Hotels.

The path to the city

The water flows through both of the mountain spring water pipelines through mountains, valleys, under and over rivers in a natural downward slope to Vienna. Not a single pump is used. On the contrary, gravitational energy is used along the entire pipeline – even for producing electricity.

Klaefferquelle

Due to the establishment of extensive spring reserves, water no longer needs to be additionally treated and now flows through Vienna’s water pipelines in outstanding quality.

The largest source in the Hochschwab region is the “Kläfferquelle,” one of Europe’s largest sources of drinking water, from which up to 680 million liters of water effervesce each spring. On average, up to 217 million liters of water are piped through Vienna every day.

Arriving in Vienna

Once the water has arrived in Vienna after 36 hours, it is distributed from Vienna’s waterworks. Different altitudes in the areas to be supplied result in different pressure zones in the pipe network. Lower-altitude areas – all areas within the Gürtel (beltway) for instance – are supplied by the first mountain spring water pipeline and the higher-altitude districts on the outskirts of the city are supplied by the second pipeline.

Guests of the Schick Hotels thus drink wonderful, clear “Rax water.” (The Rax Alps are a mountain mass on the border of Styria and Lower Austria.) By the way, on clear days you can almost see all the way to the spring from our Hotel Am Parkring.

Water – our elixir of life – all too often wasted and too little valued

In normal operation, Vienna is supplied 100 percent with spring water. Moreover, there are more than 30 water supply reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 1.6 billion liters of water, which amounts to four days of Vienna’s water consumption.

Vienna requires approximately 400 million liters of water per day, which amounts to 130 liters per person.

There remain sufficient possibilities for every individual to continue to save water. At the Schick Hotels Vienna, we took measures long ago to make our contribution, from the “hand towel stickers” in the bathrooms, to flow limiters in the faucets, to the stop buttons when flushing toilets.

Pictures: MA31, Wiener Wasserwerke, Lammerhuber