Kanäle

Canals, artificial waterways connecting natural bodies of water, built for the transport of goods and persons Wiener Neustadt Canal, Lendkanal in Klagenfurt, Donau-Oder-Kanal); for providing and storing water (Alm Canal in Salzburg dating from the 12^th century) or for the regulation of the water supply (Einser Canal on Lake Neusiedl, Marchfeld Canal). Other canals were built for the transport of wood, for the regulation of watercourses (Danube Canal in Vienna) or in connection with power stations and reservoir installations. From the late Middle Ages, subterranean canals were built in the towns for the disposal of sewage. These canals discharged into the watercourses or into the old town moats. Since the second half of the 19^th century smaller towns and from the 1950s villages started building canals. Most of the canals are combined rainwater and waste water canals. The law requires that effluent waters must be purified by Sewage Treatment Plants. Canalisation lies within the responsibility of the provincial governments