Ehemalige Uerdinger Abwasserreinigungsanlage, Industrial heritage monument in Krefeld, Germany.
The former Uerding wastewater treatment plant is an industrial complex in Krefeld made of red brick buildings with large factory windows across multiple floors. The facility displays the typical layout of water processing technology from its era, with basins, piping systems, and mechanical equipment that remain largely intact.
The plant was built in the early 1900s to handle rapid growth in Krefeld's industrial development and swelling population. It represented a technological response to new environmental demands, cleaning wastewater before it entered local rivers.
The site reflects the pride of an industrial city in solving practical problems through engineering innovation. Visitors can sense how such facilities were essential to daily urban life, enabling communities to grow without infrastructure collapse.
You can view the exterior of the complex year-round without special permission, but to enter the buildings you must arrange a visit ahead of time. Come on a dry day to see the details of the brick facades and mechanical systems more clearly.
The site preserves a rare example of filtration methods from the turn of the 20th century, with basin designs that show how settlements managed waste before modern piping. Few other treatment plants from this period remain this intact across Europe.
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