When BWTAS Chairman Wil Harvey was visiting the Netherlands, he of course kept his eye open for any interesting water towers. The above tower was spotted in Delft and convieniently it had a plaque on it,
informing us that this Watertoren was built in 1895 and contained 600,000 litres (132,000 gallons). It gave the architect as M.A.C. Hartman.
Further investigation located this tower in the center of Delft at 52.01677,4.35112 and it's up for sale for € 675,000! The tower was converted in 2008 to provide a multifunctional, hospitality and conference space of approximately 300 m2 (3,230 sq ft) that may be hired: http://dewatertoren.eu/
The tower 29 m (95 ft.) high and 11 m (36 ft.) in diameter, was commissioned by the municipal water supply company and built by Delft contractor G.B. Luken. One of the most interesting aspects of this tower, is that it contained an Intze 2 type tank, with a double-curved bottom, formed from curved, riveted steel plates.
By Uwe Barghaan, SVG version by Zirguezi - Own work, CC BY 3.0, Link
The tank in the Delft tower has a cylindrical shaft in the middle, so that the round penthouse on the tower roof may be accessed by a twisting steel staircase. The load-bearing masonry tower incorporates iron beams and also has some decorative wrought-iron work. The roof is of concrete reinforced by iron I-beams.
In 1908 the tower was given a concrete intermediate floor. A pump house, in the same style as the water tower, was added in 1918–1919 along with an underground reservoir of around 2,000 m3 (440,000 gals.).
While researching this tower, I delved into our archives and found this image of a nearby water tower:
The above photograph was one from the collection of photographs kindly donated to BWTAS by Peter Loosely (A Water Tower Windfall!!).
This later water tower, stands on the Rijswijk border with Delft, in the hamlet of Het Haantje at 52.02446,4.34603. This tower was constructed in 1911 for the municipality of Hof van Delft (abolished in 1920) for the supply of water to Hof van Delft and part of Rijswijk. The tower was designed by architect N. Biezeveld and is constructed in reinforced concrete. The tower is approximately 29·3 meters (96 feet) high and contains a 200 m3 (44,000 gal.) tank. Beneath the tank we can see the cylindrical shaft in an openwork, tapered support structure. What is not shown in the photograph, is that beneath this, is a square substructure that measures approximately 7·5 by 7·5 m (24½ × 24½ ft.) with a height of 5·5 m (16½ ft.).
The tower is no longer in service and the municipality of Rijswijk granted a permit to convert it into a residential home, in October 2008. The owner elected to only convert the lower substructure, preserving much of the water tower, including pipework. Conversion and renovation started in August 2009.
And finally, yet another water tower in the vicinity:
This small iron ‘water tower’ in Rijswijk is located at 52.0405,4.29256. This iron box on legs, originally stood at a greenhouse horticulture company, to provide water to the crops in the greenhouses. Now it is retained as a monument.
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