Photo: BMLFUW/Rita Newman
Drinking water and water supply
Whether in the capital Vienna or in the tourism community Ramsau am Dachstein in Styria: The water gushing from Austria's water taps is drinking water. Whatever we use water for in our households, for doing the washing, for cooking, cleaning, or for the toilet flush: We use drinking water.
The Codex Alimentarius Austriacus defines drinking water as “Water which, in native condition or after processing, is suited to be enjoyed by humans without any threat to their health and which is unobjectionable in smell, taste and view”.Drinking water in Austrian households
The average consumption (not including commerce, industry or large-scale users) amounts to about 135 litres per day and person. An average 4-person household needs about 200 m³ of drinking water per year. The costs for the supply with drinking water amount to € 1.30/m³.
How is drinking water used in Austria’s households?
- 34 percent: showering and bathing
- 22 percent: toilet flush
- 17 percent: doing the washing
- 7 percent: personal hygiene
- 6 percent: dish washing
- 6 percent: other uses
- 5 percent: cleaning
- 3 percent: drinking and cooking
Drinking water supply
Presently 50 percent of the Austrian drinking water is extracted from groundwater and 50 percent from spring water. These resources are well protected by suitable requirements laid down in the Austrian Water Rights Act.
More than 5,000 water supply enterprises supply the Austrian population and the holidaymakers with high-quality drinking water which complies with the stringent requirements laid down in the Drinking Water Ordinance.
Of the totally 8.1 million inhabitants approx. 7 million (87 percent) are supplied via a central drinking water network. Most water suppliers offer natural (untreated) drinking water or drinking water which has been disinfected for preventive reasons. According to the 2006 Drinking Water Report 96 percent of those supplied are satisfied or very satisfied with the performance of their drinking water suppliers.
More than 1 million inhabitants (13 percent) take their drinking water from private wells or springs, which means they have an individual home well which is partly used for drinking water.
Home wells are not within public competence, but are the private responsibility of the well owners. Periodic inspections (water quality, structural condition of the well, etc.) are also highly recommendable for private wells, especially when they are used for drinking water.
What about the use of freshwater in the individual sectors?
Globally, 70 percent of the freshwater is used for agriculture, 22 percent for industrial uses and 8 percent for households. In Austria, only 5 percent of the freshwater is used for agriculture, 56 percent for industrial uses and 39 percent for households.
Water supply in industry and trade
For industry and trade, water is often a prime factor in the choice of location and production. Recent decades have revealed that also with bulk consumers saving water has increasingly become a necessity. Apart from ecological aspects this was mainly due to the economic pressure of supply and disposal costs.
These saving measures took place on the one hand by means of a readjustment of the production process and on the other hand by the recycling of already utilised water (water for industrial purposes). Also the stress which industry and trade exerted on the water quality has been significantly reduced in recent decades. The clearest expression of this trend is the consistently good quality of our rivers.
Water supply in agriculture
Water is a crucial factor of production in agriculture. Apart from the supply of rural families with drinking water of good quality, the existence of sufficient water supplies plays also a decisive role for plant growth, for watering animals and for the cleanness and the hygienic condition of farms.
02.07.2008, Lebensministerium Öffentlichkeitsarbeit