page_title: First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline
section_title: From 1910 to 1938
hierarchical_section_title: First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline / History / From 1910 to 1938
context_page_description: The First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline is a major part of Vienna's water supply and was the first source of safe drinking water for that city. The 95 km long line was opened on 24 October 1873, after four years of construction. Today, it delivers 62 million cubic meters of water per year. The water comes from high springs in the Rax and Schneeberg areas in Southern Lower Austria and Styria.
context_section_description: After the opening of the second pipeline in 1910, further investment in the first pipeline no longer seemed necessary.
  On 25 July 1914, during the First World War, both pipelines became state-protected companies by Imperial Decree. As a result, monitoring of the lines, which was normally undertaken by city employees and volunteers, became the responsibility of the Landsturm.
  After the war, the population of Vienna decreased by almost 326,000 and the ensuing economic depression reduced economic activity so the city found itself with a surplus of water that was delivered to adjacent communities such as Klosterneuburg, Schwechat, Brunn am Gebirge and others. But, during the summers of 1928 and 1929, the area experienced a drought, once again forcing a search for new sources of water. A temporary pumping station was established on the Naßbach, near its confluence with the Preinbach, but this water had to be chlorinated. That pump was eventually replaced by an electrically powered pump at the pipeline's headwaters. In 1930, improvements were made to the source at Kaiserbrunnen, including a "metering chamber" that would provide precise measurements of water flow.
caption: Map of the Vienna Mountain Spring Pipelines