Centrale dell'Acqua is one of the oldest pumping stations of the civic water supply system of Milan. Designed by the Technical Office of the Municipality of Milan in 1906, the year of the World Expo in Milan, after decades of activity as a "water factory", in 2018 MM spa – the public engineering company of the Municipality of Milan and operator of the integrated water service of the city - redeveloped the plant into a cultural and educational space dedicated to water and sustainability issues.
Today, Centrale dell'Acqua is one of the most active museums in Milan on the educational level, a reference point for schools of all ages on environmental and scientific issues. A place of inclusion, dissemination and encounter, at the complete service of citizens and in continuous dialogue with the territory and institutions.
Exhibitions, cultural events, meetings with experts and workshops characterize the program of the museum's activities. To experience first-hand the importance of the water resource, realize the need to use it in a sustainable way, learn about the technical and organizational evolution that the Integrated Water Service of Milan has gone through from the end of the 19th century to today.
Centrale dell'Acqua is part of the Italian Association of Corporate Archives and Museums, which brings together over 100 museums and archives of large, medium and small Italian companies, and it is committed to spreading entrepreneurial culture and history of MM spa – the public engineering company of the Municipality of Milan and operator of the integrated water service of the city - strongly intertwined with the history and development of the city of Milan.
The Museum's permanent collection consists of historical tools and machinery, maps, photos, projects, and original documents (from the end of the 19th century to the mid-20th century).
The machine room is the heart of the industrial memory preserved at Centrale dell’Acqua. An environment that has kept its original look and hosts important material testimonies dating back to the beginning of the twentieth century: electric control panels, manual workbenches and equipment for the extraction and introduction of drinking water into the Milanese water network.
The most significant item in the collection is the stupendous screw turbine with horizontal axis, produced in 1920 by the historical firm Costruzioni Meccaniche Riva.
It is also worth noting the elegant Venturi meter, for measuring and recording the flow of the plant, and the imposing bridge crane on the ceiling.
Temporary Exhibitions
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The water factory
The Milan Aqueduct from 1888 to the present day: maps, projects, photos and objects from the MM historical archive. The exhibition flows between the historical photos, the original plans of the plants, the plans of the aqueduct buildings and the historical materials. The documentation of the MM Spa Archive covers a period of time from the 1880s to the 1960s.
For further information, visit la città dell'acqua
- The fantastic clippings of Claudio Onorato
After the exhibitions dedicated to the copper sculptures of Primo Levi, Centrale dell’Acqua returns to host and be contaminated by the language of contemporary art. The theme of water has always been central to the work of Claudio Onorato and could not fail to meet the peculiarity of a museum dedicated to water management in the history of Milan.
Further information at the following link
- World Water Day Photo Contest 2024
The photographic competition involves thousands of photographers all over the world and is organized by Lions Club Seregn, in cooperation with UN Water (coordination body of the Nations United for water resources policies). The result is a social reportage on the global climate crisis and the importance of water and its fair management as a lever for peace and conflict resolution.
Further information at the following link
