Water Plant for Mount Snezka

The water plant used to provide water for the Ceska bouda chalet on Mount Snezka from 1912, supplying up to 4,000 litres of water per day from the Rudny brook in Obri dul valley.

The water plant and the water pipes to the summit of Snezka were built by Count Rudolf Czernin-Morzin. This interesting technical monument and also a special example of the now rediscovered “alternative” sources of energy, uses an ingeniously simple principle. The energy of water which falls naturally from the hill actuates a machine which “pumps” a portion of this water uphill. An important part of this mechanism is a Pelton turbine. Before then, the water had to be brought up to the mountain summit by 12 porters in backpacks, just like any other load. In winter, melted snow was used.