In the middle of the 19th century, the hydraulic engineer, Aristide Dumont, suggested the town could be supplied with water filtered then pumped up from the Rhone river. In 1853, for the first time, a private company, the” General Water Company” tentered for providing public water to the town.
In 1856, three gigantic Cornish pumps, manufactured in Le Creusot by the Schneider Group, as well as six steam boilers, were set to work. One pump was dedicated to the lower service ( i.e.lower areas in town) ( pressure 5 bar, volume 1200 cubic m/h). Another pump was set apart for the upper service ( i.e.higher areas in town) ( pressure 9 bar, volume 360 cubic m/h) .Whereas the third pump could replace any other one, if maintenance was necessary.
Nowadays, only one pump is left and preserved as a historical monument.
The steam-cylinder has an external diameter of 2,66 m, the balance beam weighs 35 tons, the piston stroke is 2,5 m. The whole unit is 20 m high and 13 m wide.
Those machines operated till 1910, when they were replaced by electric pumps.
The filtration bassins were used till 1976 .
From the original plant, there is also a neoclassical building left, with a very beautiful metallic iron trusses (Polonceau type) and two remarquable filtration basins ( 2200 sq m and 1600 sq m) .
The whole site is the property of the Lyon Metropole