History of the Water Management Industry in České Budějovice

The trail was inspired by great public interest in visiting the local water tower on the Day of Monuments and European Heritage Days.[1] It became part of the premises of a company located between the U Vodárny street and the SK Dynamo football stadium and is open to the public.

In the middle of the regional city, and yet exposed to fresh air, people can learn about the history of water management in the city through eleven stations. They will learn about Luční mill which has already ceased to exist and about what kind of a role Eliášova drift played in the city’s water supply – a drift that was originally used to drain water from the silver mines near Rudolfov. They will learn about the water situation in the times when the city’s residents still had to walk to pumps and drinking fountains, and how they made it work so that the water would not splash out of the containers on their way home. They will try their hand at using a gate valve and freshen up with water from the replica of a historic drinking fountain. 

What kind of a water management site would it be without water? The last, eleventh station of the trail is a statue by Andrea Koláčková called Zvíře (Animal), for which a new name Čevava was chosen from public suggestions and which dominates the open area behind the tower. Another decorative element is a fountain symbolising the water cycle on Earth, in terms of nature (evaporation – rain – river – seas) and also civilisation (water management company – drinking water – consumer – waste water).

www.vodarenskavezcb.cz