<P> In 1858, a "Joint - stock company St. Petersburg water supply" was established, which built the first water supply network in the city . A two - stage water purification station was constructed in 1911 . The development of the sewerage system began only in 1920, after the October Revolution, and by 1941, the sewerage network was 1,130 kilometres (700 mi) long . </P> <P> Every winter from 1895 to 1910, electric tramways were laid on the ice of the river, connecting the Senate Square, Vasilievsky island, Palace Embankment and other parts of the city . The power was supplied through the rails and a top cable supported by wooden piles frozen into the ice . The service was highly successful and ran without major accidents except for a few failures in the top electrical wires . The trams ran at the speed of 20 kilometres per hour (12 mph) and could carry 20 passengers per carriage . The carriages were converted from the used horsecars . About 900,000 passengers were transported over a regular season between 20 January and 21 March . The sparking of contacts at the top wires amused spectators in the night . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> View down the Neva River between the Winter Palace and St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences . Engraving of 1753 . </Td> <Td> Palace Embankment (1826) </Td> <Td> View on the Smolny Convent from Bolshaya Ohta (1851) </Td> <Td> Tramways on the frozen Neva (more images) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr>

Which building was located on the banks of river neva