Old Delft Water Walk
The Old Delft Water Walk starts at the Gemeenlandshuis (House of the Delfland Water Board), Oude Delft 167. This house was built in 1505 by Jan de Heuyter, sheriff of Delft and bailiff of Delfland. He was also the tenant of the hop excise duty. This made him very wealthy, because of Delft’s large beer production. The house was therefore also called “House with the Bells” after its interior decoration featuring hop cones. The Delfland Water Board has been based in this building since 1645. More information about the Gemeenlandshuis can be found on Wikipedia (only in Dutch).
The Water Board fulfills four tasks: 1. Keeping our feet dry through water level management and flood defenses – excess water is discharged into the North Sea and the Rotterdam Waterway through six pumping stations in a.o. in Rotterdam, ter Heide, Hoek van Holland and Maassluis; 2. Sufficient water in the polder canals and ditches – insufficient water is replenished with water from the Brielse Maas, supplied by a large pipeline; 3. Water purification – the Harnaschpolder Water Purification Plant is important for Delft; 4. Water quality – this is a rapidly growing task. More information about the Delfland Water Board can be found online, here and here, or on the Delft Water Walk website.
