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Water supply

Water supply

The history of Zagreb, its development, and its future are closely connected to finding solutions for a high-quality water supply.

One of the most important dates in the history of the city of Zagreb was 7th July 1878, when, following the idea of engineer Melkus, the city waterworks was officially opened. The ceremony was marked by the symbolic release of water on Manduševac, with a song, dance and festivities where everyone attended. Compared to other metropolises, it was five years before Munich and only five years after Vienna. The capacity of the built waterworks was 53.2 liters per second, and the length of the water supply network was 3.9 km. At the time, Zagreb had around 30,000 citizens, and 11,150 were connected to the water supply network. The waterworks consisted of a well with the engine room in Zagorska street and a water reservoir in Jurjevska street, which is still in operation today.

The City of Zagreb lies on pebble alluvial deposits of the Sava River, which contain large amounts of groundwater that is naturally filtered. After filtration that lasts for weeks and months, the water in the wells is collected using pumps, preventively disinfected with gaseous chlorine and distributed to consumers through the water supply network. The basis of the concept of the water supply system is the forcible raising of water to water reservoirs, with the distribution of water to consumers. This type of water supply system in Zagreb has been operating since 1878.

Collection of water is performed on 7 water collection sites from 30 wells. The most significant water collection sites are Mala Mlaka, Petruševec, Sašnak, and Strmec. The water supply network length is approximately 3,500 kilometers, and about 310,000 cubic meters of water per day is pumped.

The public water supply system covers about 800 square kilometers, supplying approximately 900,000,000 inhabitants with water. Today's urban water supply network covers the urban area from Samobor to the west to Vrbovec in the east, and from the slopes of Sljeme to the north to new urban settlements on the southern shore of Sava.