Hydraulic Power Network - Legacy

Legacy

Geneva had a hydraulic network with a total installed power of 6,000 hp (4,500 kW). The system gave birth to the Jet d'Eau, a huge fountain which was originally only a pressure relief valve for the network when the consumers had been switched off.

Bristol Harbour still has a working system, the pumping machinery of which was supplied by Fullerton, Hodgart and Barclay of Paisley, Scotland in 1907. The engine house is a grade II* listed building, constructed in 1888, with a tower at one end to house the hydraulic accumulator. A second accumulator was fitted outside the building in the 1920s, which enables the operation of the system to be more easily visualised.

A number of artifacts, including the buildings used as pumping stations, have survived the demise of public hydraulic power networks. In Hull, the Machell Street pumping station has been reused as a workshop. The building still supports the sectional cast-iron roof tank used to allow the silt-laden water of the River Hull to settle, and is marked by a Blue plaque, to commemorate its importance. In London, Bermondsey pumping station, built in 1902, is in use as an engineering works, but retains its chimney and accumulator tower, while the station at Wapping is virtually complete, retaining all of its equipment, which is still in working order. The building is grade II* listed because of its completeness.

In Manchester, the Water Street pumping station, built in Baroque style between 1907 and 1909, was used as workshops for the City College, but has formed part of the People's History Museum since 1994. One of the pumping sets has been moved to the Museum of Science and Industry, where it has been restored to working order and forms part of a larger display about hydraulic power. The pumps were made by the Manchester firm of Galloways.