Oil to Make Sure the Parts are all Greased Up
I was quite incredible how well the Ir.D.F._Woudagemaal is maintained. It was almost like the place was built yesterday. In fact, the largest steam pumping station in the world is almost a hundred years old. You can probably tell by looking at how well made the parts are. The engine room is where a lot of action happens. There were a few engines here powered the the steam which is generated by boilers in the next room. Another significant part here are the pumps themselves. While, I don’t exactly call them pumps, these are the parts which actually pull water and deposit them elsewhere.
Pumps which Ferry the Water
One can take a look at the pumping mechanism through a window opened for that very purpose. It was actually quite dark but you can see that it is actually just a very large Archimedes screw which scoops up water from below and ferries it to the top of the screw depositing it into the other side. I always thought that Archimedes screw were very old fashioned but it seems that they are still in use. The screw is actually ingenious since one just needs to turn the screw to accomplish work, in this case, carry water. The screw doesn’t have to be watertight either since leaks will just be caught by the next level which is also going up.
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