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FILTER HOUSES DWL-TERREIN
A. VAN DER STEUR (GEMEENTEWERKEN), 1928-1929, Watertorenweg 336, Rotterdam
Filtergebouwen DWL-terrein / Filter Houses DWL-terrein ( A. van der Steur (Gemeentewerken) )
© 2007 Rook & Nagelkerke
The Rotterdam waterworks (DWL) were established in 1873 on Oude Plantage at the north end of Honingerdijk, far beyond the town limits of those days. Before then, Rotterdam's residents drew their drinking water from the filthy canals and moats with regular outbreaks of cholera as a result. W.N. Rose had already called for a more hygienic form of water management. In the new complex, designed by the Town Architect C.B. van der Tak, river water was purified in two large settling tanks and four smaller filter tanks. A 48 metre tall round water tower with a reservoir of 1000 m3 at the top, displays in its architecture a mix of Romanesque, Neo-Renaissance and Moorish styles. When the DWL moved out in 1977 the site was transformed into a residential area. Many of the existing buildings were retained and recycled, such as the water tower, which was appropriated in 1978 by the Utopia live-work community. This was the first step in the metamorphosis from industrial complex to residential area, whose layout is predicated on the pattern of the original filter tanks.