It is a brilliant design that imitates the natural pulsating flow
of water in a natural vessel and which delivers water that purifies
itself and cools through its motion, eliminating the need for any
sterilizing or purifying additives. Ideally, these wooden water
mains should be embedded in sand, allowed them to breathe, and
protected from light and heat. In such conditions they should out-
last a steel pipe.The Stuttgart tests
As the scientific establishment had never taken seriously his ideas
on natural water movement, Viktor Schauberger in later life decided
to have them subjected to rigorous tests by an independent author-
ity. In 1952 he asked the Stuttgart Technical University to set up the
experiments at his own expense. He approached Professor Franz
Popel, director of the Institute of Hygiene who, knowing
Schauberger's infamous reputation, at first refused, saying it would
be a waste of his time.
The German Government had been irritated by Viktor's railing
about its management of the River Rhine. So, hearing about
Schauberger's proposal, it was happy to offer to cover half the costs,
thinking that any genuine tests were bound to discredit him. As a
result of this, Professor Popel changed his mind and agreed to test
the various rifled and helical pipes that Viktor supplied.
The object of the tests was to compare how water moves through
eight different kinds of pipe, the velocity of the water flow being
affected by friction varying according to the form of the pipe. The
configurations that produced the most friction were the straight
pipes made of glass or of copper. Introducing a sinuosity to the pipe
reduced the friction, while Viktor's special 'spiral helicoid' copper
pipe directed the water flow in an involuting flow movement away
from the walls, giving the greatest reduction in friction, to zero or
perhaps even below (negative friction or acceleration) at specific
velocities.^22
Because of expectations of his peers, Popel's report played down
the significance of the experiment, which in fact in these circum-
stances disproved the relevance of the Second Law of Thermody-
namics, which states that energy in any closed systems must
degenerate or run down. The implication of this was that a system
can in certain circumstances generate energy spontaneously, that
- SUPPLYING WATER