Zawada Historic Waterworks

The Zawada Historic Waterworks in Karchowice is a complex of waterworks buildings from the late 19th century and the 1920s, open to visitors since 2004. Since 2006 it has been one of the sites of the Industrial Monuments Route of the Silesian Voivodeship.

Where the waterworks came from

In 1874 the first boreholes were drilled in the area of Zawada and Karchowice, because water draining into mine workings was causing a water shortage. A few years later a well 215 metres deep was built. In 1894-1895 the waterworks were erected: administrative buildings, a pumping station and a steam boiler house. In 1927-1929 the machine hall and boiler house were rebuilt, and a workshop, bathhouse, garages, a warehouse, a fire station building and a chimney were added. The steam equipment was shut down in 1968-1969, when the plant was electrified.

What to see

The brick pumping station from 1929 houses a piston pump unit with a capacity of 11 cubic metres per minute, a turbine set with a capacity of 25 cubic metres per minute, a two-stage high-pressure turbine from 1928 and a pump unit from 1923. There are also steam compressors. Visitors see the machine hall, the boiler house, the transformer station with its switchgear, the workshop and the former administrative building. The site represents industrial modernism.

Nearby

Nearby lies the railway open-air museum in Pyskowice, and in Tarnowskie Góry the Military Technology Museum.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Bytomska 6, Karchowice (Zbrosławice municipality).
• Visits are arranged by the site operator; check dates and rules on the Industrial Monuments Route website (zabytkitechniki.pl).