First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline
Today, it delivers 62 million cubic meters of water per year (53% of Vienna's total supply in 2007).
The water comes from high springs in the Rax and Schneeberg areas in Southern Lower Austria and Styria.
In the absence of a functioning sewer system, the quality of the groundwater went from bad to worse, triggering disease and epidemics.
Initially, the water quality was acceptable, but the effects of the filtering gradually diminished and the health risk returned.
These studies considered not only drinking water, but industry, irrigation, road sprinkling, fountains and bathing facilities as well.
A primary consideration was that the water should originate at a high altitude, so that gravity, rather than pumps, would be sufficient to the task.
The Fischa was rejected because of concerns about the companies that used the river as a power source and the possibility of contamination from ammonia-based fertilizers.
Later, on 1 December 1861, foreign and domestic engineering companies were invited to submit plans and bids for the proposed project.
Among the commission's members were Cajetan Felder (an entomologist), Ludwig Förster (an architect) and August Zang (a publisher).
The report concluded that the three sources of Kaiserbrunnen, Stixenstein and Alta would supply high quality water and, even though it was longer than the route to Fischa, would be more cost-effective because no pump station would be necessary.
The Imperial Society of Physicians gave their support to the final proposal and it was ratified by the Council on 12 July by a vote of 94 to 2.
On May 25 that year, the plans were presented to the City Council for final approval and after a long debate, the project was authorized to proceed on 19 June.
Objections were raised by local land owners and factory operators near the Schwarza, but were rejected by the Ministry of the Interior on 22 March 1869.
After the issuance of construction permits, the bids were examined and the contract awarded to Antonio Gabrielli, a contractor from London, on 12 October 1869.
Falling further behind from delays in deliveries, Gabrielli turned to the Minister of War to help with the tunnel but, instead of the 250 men he requested, he was assigned only 70 sappers.
However, Gambier encountered difficulties in delivering their pipes due to the Franco-Prussian War, so most of their contract was transferred to nearby factories in Moravia.
In 1908 and 1909, the city found itself facing shortages again and, despite some opposition from industrial interests, took stop-gap measures to insure an adequate drinking water supply until the Second Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline could be completed.
In 1930, improvements were made to the source at Kaiserbrunnen, including a "metering chamber" that would provide precise measurements of water flow.
The bomb craters near Neunkirchen had allowed large quantities of gravel to enter the system, causing erosion to the pipes.
With the establishment of the Schneealpenstollen (Alpine Snow Tunnel) in 1968, water from Styria was introduced into the pipeline system.
A former forest warden's house in Kaiserbrunnen has served since 1973 as a museum, consisting of two buildings with seven rooms documenting the construction of the First Vienna Mountain Spring Pipeline.
