Hidrológiai Közlöny, 2016 (96. évfolyam)

2016 / 3. szám - HISTORICAL SNAPSHOT - Juhász Endre - Major Veronika: Sanitation in Hungary

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Hungarian Journal of Hydrology Vol. 96. No. 3. 2016.

The final third of the 19th century was a reflection period for the intellectuals in the fields of public health and technical professions. After a longer period of debate, they came to the conclusion that wastewater collection had to be implemented using combined sewers. The pioneer role of József Fodor, public health university teacher must be emphasized, who utilised his experience acquired during his visits to London and Berlin.

Figure 2. Construction of the Pumping station in Ferencváros (Source: Budapest csatornázása: Pest város 1847. évi csatornázási szabályrendeletének 125 éves évfordulójára 1972)

The first plans were prepared for Budapest, the capital of Hungary that became a single city with the unification of Buda, Óbuda and Pest in 1873. The actual construction begun in 1892 and the Pest collection network on the left side of the Danube (flat terrain) was finished by 1910 (Fig. 1-3). Pipes of the Buda side (right bank) were constructed utilising the hilly terrain, using mainly open ditches which discharged directly into the Danube. Establishment of heavy-duty pumping stations that were powered by steam-engines was a significant improvement. These pumping stations were able to convey stormwater, as well. The pumping stations were equipped with screen in order to filter coarse floating and suspended materials.

Figure 3. Construction of sewerage main in 1910 (Source: Budapest csatornázása: Pest város 1847. évi csatornázási szabályrendeletének 125 éves évfordulójára 1972)

The example of the capital was followed primarily by other cities and towns with hilly landscape utilising the possibilities of gravity. By that time the treatment of wastewater was not on the agenda, partly because it was

thought that the discharged sewage was “consumed” by the river via dilution, and partly because it was considered that wastewater was an important food source for fish. Some cities guessed - based on foreign, that time mostly from German examples - that sooner or later some kind of treatment would be necessary, thus the planners already designated the location of treatment plant during the construction of collection system.

In the meantime, the notion of using wastewater for irrigation purposes, originating from England, started to spread,. For the first time, based on a German example, the city of Arad constructed an irrigation area for a population of 60.000 people in 21 hectares. Unfortunately the operation that wastewater irrigation system was stopped soon, due to a miscalculations regarding the necessary capacity and consequent overload.

Figure 4. Special cross-section of Nagykörút sewerage main (Source: Budapest csatornázása: Pest város 1847. évi csatornázási szabályrendeletének 125 éves évfordulójára 1972)

Several cities followed Budapest in constructing sewerage (Fig. 4), primarily the ones that were able to get loans in order to finance construction works, and the ones that already had some kind of public water supply. At around 1910 almost 40 cities had closed sewerage system and 7-8 cities started the construction of them (Csatornázás Fejlődésének Története 2008).

After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was signed significant developments started in industrialisation, urbanisation and housing conditions that generated needs for further developments regarding water supply and wastewater collection. Primarily county towns and towns located near to the capital started to construct their sewerage systems.

Due to World War I the rapid development came to a halt. In the years following the war, after Hungary seceded from Austria, the main task was to consolidate and reorganise the national administration. Unfortunatelly for a long time, the institutional background - that could have been the driving force in developing public utilities - was lacking.

WASTEWATER COLLECTION AND TREATMENT BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS

In the first third of the 20th century villages did not demand public water supply, not to mention wastewater