Eber’s water towers 2010

The leading trade journal in Sweden, VA-tidskriften Cirkulation has since 1998 an article series under the heading Ebers vattentorn (Eber’s water towers), where Eber Ohlsson with text and photo presents interesting water towers in the world (except Scania and Sweden). Below is a free translation to English of these texts.


Eber’s water towers in Cirkulation 1/2010

A free translation to English:

How to be different among many equals? One way is to be individual. Somewhat that even can be valid to water towers. In USA there it is very many standardized water towers, can individualization be attain by painting the name of the place on the tower, with or without a symbol, and often on two sides to reach all wayfarer.

Another way to get a spherical water tower to be individual is to paint a Smiley. The dilemma is that this thought has turned up in a thirty different places in USA. In Ashley in Indiana has the Smiley therefore been more personal through that it even has got a bow tie.

Published 2010-02-10


Eber’s water towers in Cirkulation 2/2010

A free translation to English:

Can a water tower to become a minaret? The possibility exists in the town of Oss in the southern Netherlands, but has not yet been realized. It is valid for the architect J H J Kording drawn 48.5 meter high water tower from 1935, with a reservoir of 600 m³. The now decommissioned tower, a historic building, could a Turkish-Muslim community for a few years ago bought for 1 Euro.

In the tower there was a grocer’s shop, and in the low building a mosque. The tower maintenance burden, however, the community’s finances, so it is now hope for revenues from mobile antenna rents. They have experienced, almost free is not always cheap.

Published 2010-03-17


Eber’s water towers in Cirkulation 3/2010

A free translation to English:

Pillars or struts that carry up a water tower shall not only on a safe way fill the function, but shall also visual convince the viewer about it. The concrete water tower in Trent Park in Cockfosters in the north London hopefully does this. Building proprietor was the then Lee Valley Water Company, with the Chief Engineer J.W. Milne and the General Manager E.H. Riley.

The straight struts forming a striking interlaced hyperbolic lattice; there every strut is inclined 120° to the ground. The tower, which for some time, there were plans to have a restaurant at the top, is from 1968 and has a reservoir of 1 130 m³. It is owned today by Veolia Water UK.

Published 2010-04-28


Eber’s water towers in Cirkulation 4/2010

A free translation to English:

The water tower par préférence is standing at Friedrichsplatz in Mannheim, Germany. In an architectural competition of the tower design 1884 won the architect Gustav Halmhuber. With a reservoir of 2 000 m³ was the monumental 60 meter high new baroque tower in yellow sandstone inaugurated 1889, 2½ times more expensive than planned.

Mannheim is a large and very important industrial city on the Rhine, so the tower was roughly treated during the bombing raids 1943-45. After the war, there were plans to rebuild the tower to a concrete construction, but after popular protests the tower was restored in 1960s and is today the city’s pride and symbol.

Published 2010-06-09


Eber’s water towers in Cirkulation 5/2010

A free translation to English:

Csepel is an island and district in the Hungarian capital Budapest. It lies on the eastern flat Pest side of the Danube River; there a branch of the river east of the island is reunited with the Danube. There is since a long time industries and low buildings in the district, but in the 1980s there was even built residential tower blocks.

To also be able to supply adequate pressure to the upper floors, a water tower here was built 1980-84, designed by Lázló Tóth and Imre Pálfy. It was a classical ground cast striped mushroom water tower, 70 meter high and with a reservoir capacity of 3 000 m³. The design was apparently good, since it was build three sister towers.

Published 2010-08-25


Eber’s water towers in Cirkulation 6/2010

A free translation to English:

Most of the steel water towers are painted, if not else so to reduce the corrosion. When the painting bucket still is there, many towers also get an additional painting. In USA is it not quite uncommon that name and emblem oft the town’s football team in this way is exposed on the water tower.

In a suburb of Washington DC, Manassas, Virginia, they have gone one step further. Here has they on the tower stated that the town’s school, Osbourn High School, in 2006 became the state’s champion, and also added the digits (14-0) and by that stated that the team that year won 14 games and lost 0 games. We understand that they are proud.

Published 2010-10-06


Eber’s water towers in Cirkulation 7/2010

A free translation to English:

Water Music was created by George Frideric Handel in the early 1700s. In the former water tower in Misburg near Hanover, Germany, 200 km northwest of Handel’s birthplace, Halle, is water tower music now created, however, it is more rock than Handel’s baroque.

The tower, now a symbol of Misburg, if not beautiful, is an old air protection bunker from the war, which was rebuilt 1959/60 to a water tower. It became privately owned in 1992 and converted into a music bunker with 10 music rehearsel rooms on four floors. Neighbours see it perhaps still as a shelter, now protect against the inside coming rock band sound.

Published 2010-11-10


Eber’s water towers in Cirkulation 8/2010

A free translation to English:

Architect Ib Lunding was a versatile talent, something he had the opportunity to practice in the city architect office in Copenhagen. He designed for example, the city’s new trolley buses and trams, with its corners rounded windows.

His hallmark, round windows, also set their mark on it by him designed 34 meters high concrete water tower in the district Brønshøj. The tower that was built in 1928, has a reservoir of 3 000 m³. On the street past the tower went tram line 2, where his trams rolled the years 1931-69, why two of his design works has been met here. The water tower is since 2000 conservation protected.

Published 2010-12-15


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