Water supply and wastewater disposal

The Best Tap Water: A Given in Vienna

Every day, Viennese residents drink tap water and use it to cook their meals. This is entirely safe, thanks to Vienna's excellent water supply system. This is made possible by around 1,100 employees who work tirelessly on behalf of the city of Vienna to maintain, operate, and keep clean the drinking and wastewater infrastructure of this city of 2 million people. This ensures that Vienna’s water demand—approximately 400,000 cubic meters of fresh tap water per day—is met around the clock.

Spring Water from the Alps: Vienna’s Treasure

Since 1873, Vienna’s drinking water has been sourced directly from springs in the Alps and transported into the city, which is exceptional for a metropolis like Vienna. This is made possible by two high spring pipelines, 31 water reservoirs, and a network of pipes that would reach from Lisbon to Warsaw if laid end to end. All of this ensures that Vienna's population is supplied with the best high spring water 24/7. To secure the long-term water supply for Vienna's residents, the city invests continuously in the maintenance and expansion of the pipeline network and water reservoirs to ensure that the population is supplied with the best drinking water even in times of crisis.

Vienna Water Charter – Unique Protection Against Privatization

Vienna is the first city worldwide to protect its drinking water supply from potential privatization through a municipal constitutional provision. This demonstrates how important the high quality and reliable provision of drinking water is to both the population and the city. After all, drinking water is a vital resource!

Water Around the Clock – Even During Blackouts, Droughts, or Power Outages

Since the planning phase of the I. Vienna High Spring Pipeline, care was taken to ensure that the water flows into Vienna by gravity alone, without the need for pumps. In addition to the 70 springs from the Alps, the city also has 30 groundwater wells. This ensures the water supply even during heat and drought periods, on peak consumption days, or during extended maintenance work on the high spring pipelines.

Water Makes Vienna Climate-Resilient

Climate change and the resulting urban overheating pose challenges for Vienna. To mitigate heat islands, Vienna has 55 monumental fountains, 100 mist showers, and around 1,500 drinking fountains—75 of which are equipped with additional mist spray functions at particularly busy locations—to provide cooling on hot days. Sixteen water power plants in the source areas along the high spring pipelines and within the city contribute to making Vienna climate-resilient by generating electricity. These plants produce enough green water power to supply more than 40,000 people.

Modern Sewer Network Keeps Vienna Clean

With a length of 2,500 kilometers, Vienna’s sewer network reaches 99.8 percent of all households. This allows for the removal of about 15 tons of deposited material daily, which would otherwise impede Vienna’s wastewater disposal. Without a functioning sewer network, the discharge of wastewater, the emptying and servicing of cesspools, septic tanks, and grease separators would not be possible, leading to unpleasant odors, unhygienic conditions, and faster spread of diseases.

Vienna Prevents Flooding Often Unnoticed

The climate crisis brings hotter summers with more intense thunderstorms and heavy rain fronts, making flooding a constant threat. Vienna relies on sophisticated flood protection: huge underground buffer basins that can hold up to 210 million liters of water and, not least, the New Danube. Without these measures, the city would have been flooded multiple times over the past 20 years. Thanks to the perfectly coordinated flood protection system, the population usually doesn't notice the large number of heavy rains and storms. The city can manage well-dosed water masses. This is only possible because Vienna has not relinquished control of public services. When rain exceeds normal levels, a sophisticated safety net directs the water into retention basins. If that isn’t enough and the Danube floods, Vienna plays its trump card and opens the relief channel sluices. But flood protection also focuses on minimal environmental impact and maintaining a high quality of life.

Europe's Most Modern Wastewater Treatment Plant in Vienna

Vienna-Simmering is home to one of Europe’s most modern wastewater treatment plants, which treats more than 500,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day and ensures that the Danube leaves Vienna with the same high water quality it had when it entered the city. Every year, two billion liters of so-called thin sludge are produced, containing the pollutants removed from Vienna’s wastewater. This thin sludge is the raw material for energy production at the city’s treatment plant, which generates significantly more eco-power than it consumes for wastewater treatment through specialized processes. Vienna's commitment to continually developing and employing more innovative and effective technologies is also why Vienna is home to Europe's most powerful large-scale heat pump, which uses already treated wastewater for energy production. The three large-scale heat pumps in use supply tens of thousands of households with green district heating and save up to 300,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually when operating at full capacity.

For further information on water supply and wastewater disposal in Vienna, please visit:

Vienna's water https://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment/watersupply/

Vienna's water supply https://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment/watersupply/supply/index.html

Vienna's sewer system https://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment/sewer-system/