The "Open Monument Day" took place on Sunday, 12 September 2004 - with this year's main theme being water. For this reason, Stadtwerke Gießen AG (SWG) opened its waterworks in the Grünberg district of Queckborn.
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 155 interested visitors took advantage of the offer and learnt not only about the construction methods used at the time, but also about the historical development of the public water supply. A photo exhibition in the waterworks documented the construction phase at the time.
The programme also included tours of the historic pump house and the extensive well system.
Historical facts:
Construction of the Queckborn pumping station began on 11 September 1893. Wells were dug and fortified, the waterworks building was erected and finally the steam-driven pumps were installed. After just under a year of construction, the new building, including a 22 kilometre long feeder line to Giessen, was completed.
The new waterworks in Queckborn went into operation on 7 December 1894. The historic engine house has been preserved in its original state to this day - as far as technical requirements allow. The steam engines that drove the water pumps in earlier days were replaced by modern centrifugal pumps in the 1970s. Today, the water supply, delivery and discharge quantities are monitored in the electronic control centre. Before the water is fed into the Giessen network, it is stored in intermediate tanks, which act as a buffer to compensate for peak periods.