Summary: The Water Supply of the Troops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1914-1918
Wilfried Schimon
Adequate amounts of drinking water supply were not only a precondition for preventing epidemic outbreaks during WW I, but also for maintaining the readiness of the troops and the pack animals, though the way of water supply was largely determined by the kind of warfare. During mobile operations the focus was on purification means and quick to set-up wells, while during trench warfare often extended water pipe systems had to be constructed.
The responsibility for the troops’ water supply lies in the cross-section of several branches. As part of the supply system the quartermasters are responsible, from the point of hygiene the medical chief is responsible, while the technical troops are responsible for the construction of water supply systems. The issue of water supply became topical for the command and control at the latest in fall 1914, when cases of dysentery and other diseases increased among the troops deployed in Galicia. Epidemic prevention and counteraction were in the hands of the salubrity commissions in the quartermaster units of the army commands, which were subordinated to the medical chief.
Water was supplied in canteens, buckets, and water tanks. Concerning water purification, the force administration gave preference to physical processing, such as filtration and subsequent boiling or ultraviolet radiation, respectively over chemical processing. The mobile drinking water purification devices came as portable models as well as large movable models, the latter of which could process up to 700 liters per hour. Size-wise in between ranged the mountain drinking water processors that produced up to 500 liters. To detect water sources, the Army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire used water-diviners. Located water resources were made accessible by hammer or shaft wells, while deeper water depots required auger boring. In Alpine terrain, spring mountings were preferred to feed water pipes. Another way of providing water was the use of snow-melting devices with the water being transported in casks, water tanks on trucks, as well as tank-trucks that had the additional advantage of being able to free the roads from dust. Other transport means included rail roads, cable cars, and water pipe systems that were especially used at the Isonzo Front.
With the end of WWI a lot of know-how concerning military water supply got lost, as only a few experts were taken over by the Austrian Armed Forces of the First Republic. The Armed Forces of the First and the Second Republic relied, and still do rely on existing infrastructure when it comes to securing the water supply, which is the reason why large water processing devices have lead a shadow existence for a long time. Only when humanitarian missions of the Austrian Armed Forces in regions without any water infrastructure picked up, these devices received a new rating, which also manifested itself during the flood disaster in 2002.
The status quo features large-tank water reserves with cask portioning for delivery in order to avoid water shortages, water transport, mobile drinking water processing during times of restricted transport possibilities, field purification and short-term water access by means of water-well equipment.
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