Early Houstonians captured rain water in cisterns or bought spring water trucked in from Beauchamps Springs, near the present site of Woodland Park at White Oak Drive and Houston Avenue, for $0.75 for a 30 gallon barrel (in 1839). The alternative was to get water from Buffalo Bayou, which was polluted by trash and industrial waste as early as the 1850's.

A contract for the construction of a municipal waterworks, using the water of Buffalo Bayou above the tide water was signed in December, 1878 by James T. D. Wilson, the mayor of Houston, and James Lowrie of New York. The Houston Water Company was formed in 1879 and it built the City Water Works Plant on Buffalo Bayou at 25 Artesian St.

The Old Central Waterworks structure can be seen near the Memorial Drive bridge that crosses Buffalo Bayou at Capitol Avenue. Old Central Waterworks, opened in 1879, was the City's 1st water treatment facility. For 8 years it pumped bayou water directly into the city's water mains, gradually switching to artesian wells beneath the site. During 1881, twelve miles of water pipe were laid in the City.

Houston Water Works Company was owned by New York interests until 1884 when it was purchased by a Chicago group who installed new boiler, steam powered turbine pumps and a brick reservoir, expanding service to 8 million gallons a day. This original water tank still remains at the site.

Concerns about the quality of Buffalo Bayou water (the bayou was used as a trash dump upstream) eased in 1886 after an underground reservoir of water was discovered and the plant tapped into it. In 1887, two artesian wells were drilled. Bayou water was then only used for fighting fires.

Until 1904 the privately run Houston Water Co still resorted to bayou water on occasion, leading to a dispute. That year, a state court ordered the water company to cease pumping water from Buffalo Bayou for any purpose. In 1906, during Mayor Baldwin Rice's administration, the city purchased the water company.

The current facility, a pumping station built in 1926, contains a steam-driven flywheel that powered pumps drawing water from artesian wells. In 1929, the Central Waterworks plant was flooded by bayou water, yet, it remained the city's primary pumping station until the Lake Houston reservoir was completed and began service in 1954. This pump station continued in operation until 1980 when the new pump station facility on the west side of Sabine Street at Buffalo Bayou was built. The rusted pumps, capped wells and crumbling interior of Central Waterworks plant are visible evidence of the plant's 20 years of retirement.

The old building is located at the foot of Artesian Street, on the north side of the bayou, between the Police Station and Fire Station Number 1, soon to be redeveloped by Landry's for an aquarium-style restaurant, on Bagby Street.

Access to Buffalo Bayou is possible from the ramp on the northeast side of the Sabine Street Bridge in the vicinity of the Bayou Art Park (watch out for the alligator and other statuary along the banks!). Street parking along Sabine Street is available, although you may feel more comfortable parking in the Fonde Recreation Center lot. The City Water Works facility is about a quarter of a mile downstream from the Sabine Street bridge. An alternate put in is at Eleanor Tinsley Park on Allen Parkway. Although it is about a quarter mile farther upstream, parking is good.

Canoe Buffalo Bayou and see the City.