We today owe a great debt to the "Industrial Revolution," for the marvels it brought us. True by today's standards they may seem crude and yet with out them we would not be the society we are today. The " Waterworks " in Hamilton, Ontario is a utterly stellar example of the early industrial revolutions machinery and how it changed everything. The year is 1859 and the fledgling city of Hamilton Ont.,had a pop of 4000. It was the year that the city had built the " Waterworks " to bring the citizens fresh water and clean up sewage. The principal of the waterworks was based on two 45 ft high, 70 ton steam engines that pumped water from Lake Ontario, cleaned it up, then pumped it up an incline to a reservoir that was fed back to the people in the city 12 miles away. With this industrial marvel that allowed now creation of fresh clean water the pop grew from a basic village to a city of over 25,000, bringing with it other industrial workings & ideas. But with change there also came ways to pay for the fresh clean water. The citizens of the city were taxed as the city had to pay for the " new " technology. The " payment as it was known was based on how much their rent was, the number of baths in their home and/or how many horses they had in their stable. Has anything really changed??? The steam engines that are housed in the " Waterworks " were the finest ever made in Canada. The wheels that were part of the " walking steam engine design " are so very finely balanced that a 3 year old can move the huge fly wheel by hand. The building in the photo that houses the 2 steam engines sits on a rise. The buildings themselves are made from the finest, sturdiest cut & natural stone found in the area. From an engineering stand point they are as strong today as they were when built in 1859 and stand alone as wonderful examples of the early industrial revolution building techniques, a study in them selves of mid 19th century architecture. Tours are conducted today on the site showing the hows and why of the moving and cleaning of that essential element of water that is the life blood of us all. Again it is a debt that we as a society owe those of that time period without who's ideas, knowledge and for sight created much of what sustains us today.....thanks for the peek