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Pump House in Cruquius

This gigantic steam-driven pump was scaled up from an 18th century Cornish pump used to remove water from deep mines.
This machine at Cruquius has the largest cylinder diameter of any steam-pump in the world:  144".  
Around 1850, three of these pumps were installed to lift water up out a huge lake in the Dutch lowlands.  
After three years, the region was dry, creating polders of rich agricultural soil.

Windmills, however, were considered more reliable, and remained the primary means of keeping the land dry.

http://www.cruquiusmuseum.nl/introduction.html


0516PistonCylander.jpg
0517PumpHouse.jpg
0520SteamPiston.jpg

Water From the Lower Region
Flows into Enormous Cylinders

Each Arm Moves a Steam-Driven Piston,
Which Lifts Water From the Lower to a Higher Region

Steam Pump