Holló Szilvia Andrea: Budapest's Public Works - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)

Developing utilities on doctor's orders

pest's six-year plan of sewerage development on its agenda in 1938. Decision was then taken to conclude the major, partially completed, investment projects of the period following World War I, but the outbreak of World War II prevented these plans from being carried through.

In the wake of the air raids and the siege, the sewer system sustained damages at 153 points of the network with the lift stations left in ruins, the central pumping station being hit by as many as 32 bombs, and the sewers clogging with sludge. During the reconstruction, the unimpeded flow of sewage had to be secured before all else, which was followed by repairs to and the replacement of the technical equipment. A regulation issued in 1954 declared that "in termő of public health, sewerage iő second only to the supply oh drinking water among Budapest’s public utilities, and sanitation will gain additional significance with the envisioned formation of Greater Budapest." In preparation for the impending changes, the implementation and maintenance of sewerage, which had so far been the responsibility of the appropriate mayoral departments and district authorities, was submitted to major transformations. In view of the increasing tasks and the unique situation, Mayor Zoltán Vas ordered that the municipal department gain full independence, and thus the Capital City Budapest Sewerage Works was formed as of 1 April 1946 under the general managership of Councillor János Szabó. The company was responsible for the maintenance of the sewer system, the operation of pumping stations and sewage

■ A classic "green house” in Károlyi-kert