In the second half of the 19th century, the water supply from the Svratka River was no longer sufficient for Brno. Previous efforts to obtain water cheaply for Brno were futile, and so in 1863 a competition was announced for the construction of a new water supply system. From four bids, the most favourable solution was accepted in 1869, based on a design by the London builder Thomas Docwry. The construction of the water treatment plant in Pis\u00e1rky began in the autumn of the same year and, following the best English experience in water treatment, was completed in 1872. Raw water from the Svratka River was taken from above the weir at Kamenn\u00e9 Mill and treated in three open biological filters with a total area of almost 3 000 m2. Water from Pis\u00e1rky was pumped into two pressure zones. The first, lower one, had water reservoirs on \u017dlut\u00fd Hill, and the higher zone had a water reservoir on \u0160pilberk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the new water source, two new brick water tanks were built on \u017dlut\u00fd Hill in Tvrd\u00fd Street between 1869 and 1872. The colossal underground reservoirs, roofed with a system of vaults and cross vaults supported by brick pillars and walls, are a unique architectural feature unparalleled in the Czech lands. The skill of the builders, the technical sophistication of the design and the incredible genius loci of these places place these buildings among the most interesting Brno works of the 19th century. The waterworks complex on \u017dlut\u00fd Hill is at the same time an impressive historical monument of the era of generous city building and a valuable monument of the technical solution to the water supply of a population expanding urban organism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The operation of these reservoirs was terminated in 1997 when they were disconnected from the water supply network and have had no use since then. Currently, the City is attempting to make these amazing structures accessible to the public through construction modifications.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The colossal underground tank roofed with a system of vaults and cross vaults supported by brick pillars and walls is a unique architecture unparalleled in the Czech lands.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[30],"class_list":["post-1289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-historie-brnenskeho-podzemi","tag-19-stoleti"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n