Kossina: No Wheeling and Dealing with Vienna’s Water Supply
Vienna’s Executive City Councillor for the Environment, Isabella Kossina, claims in view of the GATS-negotiations that the sensitive sector of water supply in particular must remain a municipal domain.
The international GATS-negotiations, which presently deal with the liberalisation of services, also affect water supply and wastewater disposal and outweigh national laws. "Precaution is particularly necessary in the field of water," says the Councillor for the Environment.
International developments have shown that liberalisation leads to a quality loss and a cost increase for the individual citizen. In Vienna, prices have not changed in the past seven years, water losses amount to 8 percent thanks to regular maintenance work.
The Vienna water supply is organised on an integral basis:
Vienna practices water protection at the source.
The new waterworks at the location "Kleehäufel" (22nd district, Prater Bridge) is to be the third pillar of water supply in addition to the two high spring water pipelines.
As to the supply network, the replacement of the old lead service pipes is being intensively pursued. The safe discharge of all effluents in Vienna is provided for.
Safeguarding of sewage sludge disposal by the construction of the fluidised bed furnace WSO4.
Flood protection is being optimised. – Vienna voluntarily cleans up the abandoned tank farm Lobau, and the abandoned sites Siebenhirten and Mobil.
