Historical flashbacks: Christiania Water and Sewerage Service established in 1876
From the 1850s onwards, the capital, like most Norwegian cities, had its own municipal engineering service, led by a city engineer, with responsibility for technical tasks such as road maintenance, fire protection and water supply.
As the city and its population grew, the organization of water resources also had to change. In 1874, city engineer O.M. Andersen presented a proposal for reorganizing the city's technical tasks. Under him, there were to be four independent departments: fire department, harbor department, above-ground works (paving, roads and planting) and underground works - that is, water and sewage.
On January 1, 1876, the new department Christiania Water and Sewerage Service was a fact. Engineer Anton Brodkorb (1843-1906) was hired as the first director. And this year we celebrate 150 years as an independent municipal unit. Hipp, hipp hurray!
Photo: Sewer pipes are laid in Tordenskiolds gate 1896. The city's main sewers flowed untreated into the fjord, from Under the city streets. Oslo's water and sewage history