The Podolí Waterworks (Podolská vodárna) is a large water-treatment facility on the right bank of the Vltava in Prague–Podolí, opposite Rowers' Island, between Vyšehrad and the Swimming Stadium. It is a heritage-listed Neoclassical building of historical and architectural value. It also includes a modern building from the 1990s, where the Prague Water Supply Museum has been based since 1997.
The waterworks was built in the 1920s as a replacement for the inadequate Vinohrady waterworks, to a design by Antonín Engel. For its time it was a modern facility capable of treating 35,000–40,000 m³ of water per day. In the early 1930s an additional technological unit dealing with chemical water treatment was added in front of the original filter station, and in the 1940s new rapid filters were installed. Between 1956 and 1965 a further part of the waterworks was built to the original plans, preserving the architecturally unified character of the complex.
It may interest you that the Podolí Waterworks now serves as a backup water source and supplementary water-treatment plant for Prague. It mainly supplies the Jewish Quarter and the Old Town, which are difficult to supply from elsewhere. The current capacity of the waterworks is 500 l/s and can be increased up to 2,200 l/s if needed. The Podolí Waterworks remains an important backup water source that can be used, for example, in the event of an emergency.
You can sail to the Podolí Waterworks aboard our boats and steamboats. Just join us for example on the Prague Grand Cruise, the lunch cruise or the dinner cruise.
