The Museu Agbar de les Aigües is a contemporanium museum dedicated to the water. In 1909 Aigües de Barcelona inaugurated this place to extract water of the aquifer of the Baix Llobregat and to distribute it to the city of Barcelona.
In the museum you can see diferent types of exposition. The permanent exposition -as the name explains itself- is an exposition that mantains through all the year. Its main theme is the explanation of the history of the water extraction by the city of Barcelona and its metropolitan area. You will be able to see objects and documents used in the past by this industry, and the organoleptic quality of the water distributed.
The permanent exposition is called “l’aigua com a molècula”, which means the water as a molecule. This exposition shows that the narrow link between water, life and the planet earth is a vital necessity and an universal right. Also it highlights that the coexistence of a functioning industry with a heritage or great value makes the Museu Agbar de les Aigües become a priceless place to discover, explore and experience by yourself.
You may think that it won’t be interesting to visit a museum, but through interactive modules and audiovisual resources, the exhibition allows you to discover the properties of water as a substance and capture the interrelation with the territory.
Apart from the previus exposition -the permanent one- you can also visit temporary expositions. Since the first opening of the Museu Agbar de les Aigües, in 2004, the museum has made diferent expositions that showed a wide range of themes related to he water, in various disciplines. For example, urbanism, photography, through history, science and tech.
If you though that this was all the museum had to offer, you can also go to eat to the restaurant, buy a souvenir in the shop or pay for a guided tour. If you pay for a guided tour you will be able to see all the museum, also get a guide that will explain all the things you won’t understand and it will provide you with extra information which isn’t exposed in the museum.
If you want some history about the Central Cornellà continue reading. At the beginninng of the 20th century, Barcelona was a city in full expansion and obviously needed more and more quantity of water. In that time, the aquifer of Llobregat was sufficient reserve to accompany the city in its development, and Aigües de Barcelona -then called Société Générale des Eaux de Barcelone- decided, after obtaining the concession of the extraction of groundwater in Cornellà in 1905, dig some wells in this place to fulfill the needs of the city. Manufactured in Paris by the Société Lyonnaise de Mécanique et de Électricité, they transformed the energy of the movement into electricity. The energy produced was transported by a cable to the Fives Llille well, whose pumps lifted the water from 30 meters deep and sent it to the equilibrium tank where it was stored temporarily. Isn’t that impressive?
Since I visited the museum and enjoyed the visit, I recommend you to do the same!
