Casa de les aigües in Montcada

The former pumping station, the Casa de les Aigües, is owned by Barcelona City Council and is one of the jewels in the crown of our water heritage. It stands in the Parc de les Aigües in the borough of Montcada i Reixach. It opened in 1879 and closed in 1989 and was a true “water factory” that drew groundwater from the aquifers beneath the river Besòs, which then flowed into the lower aqueduct that carried it to Barcelona. The aqueduct, which began at the Mina de Montcada, was built in 1826 to provide the walled city and the Barceloneta neighbourhood with drinking water.

The Casa de les Aigües complex was designed by the architect Antoni Rovira i Trias. Set among gardens, it is made up of three buildings that have now been restored to their original state. The visit includes the engine and boiler rooms.

The main building, with its exquisite art nouveau, or modernista, decorations, houses three wells which collected the water drawn up by the machinery in the engine room. During the visit, you'll be able to see the boilers that heated the water, the steam engines and extractor pumps. The machinery is a unique part of Spain's industrial heritage and was manufactured at the Alexander brothers' workshop in the Barceloneta neighbourhood. The coal used to heat the boilers was brought to the pumping station from the port of Barcelona and stored in the coal house. It was unloaded from a nearby railway halt. The coal house still stands today along with the chimney. The two other buildings are the tank that stored and distributed the water to the lower aqueduct and the engine room manager's house.

The pumping station closed in 1989 due to the high levels of contaminants in the water that flowed into the wells. It is currently run by the local museum, the Museu de Montcada, and is a wonderful place where visitors can gain an insight into the culture of water and hydraulic technology in the 19th and 20th centuries.