Daylight falling through a grate into a dark shaft

Worker cleaning a round sewer pipe with a wooden scraper

Sewer worker standing in a large egg-shaped tunnel

Sewer worker looking down a brick-lined channel in Vienna

Inspection camera lighting up an egg-shaped sewer pipe

Light at the end of a historic sewer tunnel in Vienna

Spiral staircase leading down into the sewer

MA 30 worker on a ladder above a manhole, gloved hands on the rail

Cast-iron sewer grate stamped 2010, Vienna

Worker climbing out of a manhole under a tripod

MA 30 team lowering equipment into a manhole on a Vienna street

Worker wading through a flooded sewer tunnel with a lamp

21. Februar 2016

Vienna’s sewer system

During my Bachelor studies one of my projects included Vienna’s sewer system. After getting in contact with the MA 30 (Vienna Waste Water Management) they welcomed my photography project and in this way I had the unique opportunity to accompany the sewerage cleaning team to different places throughout Vienna. The very first sewer systems date back to 1435; but the major part was constructed after 1700 making Vienna the first city in Europe with a complete sewer system in 1739. Some of these historic structures are still in use and therefore a golden opportunity to experience.