Highlights

History

The oldest building in the area, originally an open filter basin, was completed in 1876. The red-brick filter halls were constructed between 1897 and 1951. Today, the round filter hall houses the main exhibition of the Museum of Technology, and several of the island’s other red-brick buildings are also used by the museum. The rapid filter hall (1909) has been restored to its 1920s appearance and is open to the public.

The industrial building heritage of the area also includes the steam power plant, hydroelectric power plant, and mill located across the river from Kuninkaankartano Island, as well as a small water intake facility by the dam. These city-owned buildings are visible to visitors, although not currently accessible inside.

In the 1860s, plans for a water supply system in Helsinki began, driven by the need to secure a reliable water source and improve fire safety. The Senate had repeatedly urged the city council to act on organizing a water supply system. A Norwegian-born engineer, Endre Lekve, developed a plan to utilize the water resources of the Vantaa River. The city entered into a concession agreement for the construction and management of the waterworks with the Berlin-based company Neptun Continental Wasserwerks AG.

Construction of the water network began in 1872 under the direction of engineer Robert Huber. In the 1870s, a new stone dam was built at the Vanhankaupunginkoski rapids, a turbine pumping station on the western bank of the rapids, and a water reservoir, known as the Eläintarha Water Tower, was established in Alppila. Untreated water was drawn from the Vantaa River into filters, and filtered water was pumped to the water tower using water turbine pumps powered by the rapids, then distributed through a 20-kilometer pipe network to the city. The Vanhankaupunki Waterworks was completed in 1876–77 and came under the ownership and control of the city of Helsinki in 1880.

A steam pumping station with three fire-tube boilers was built in 1889–1890. Its 27.5-meter-tall chimney still stands today. A wooden footbridge over the river was replaced by an iron bridge in 1889. In 1909, electrically powered centrifugal pumps were installed on the opposite riverbank, as part of a new water treatment facility. The turbine pumping station was expanded into a hydroelectric power plant in 1910–11. It was later expanded and modified again in the late 1920s. A new steam power plant with a steam turbine generator and two steam boilers was built between 1930–32, replacing the old steam pumping station. The hydroelectric power plant remained in active use until 1973, when its technical lifespan ended, and continued operation was no longer economically viable.