A few panicked pigeons created a cloud of dust as they darted up to the safety of the rafters above. Sunlight poured in from the yellow tinted windows, illuminating the rusty maze of pipes a beautiful shade of orange-yellow. As the dust cleared my eyes were quickly drawn to the behemoth steam powered water pump. Like a misplaced skyscraper, the steam pump dominated in height over everything else in the building. A narrow set of century old rod-iron stairs led to it's peak, the view from the top was awesome, the maze of pipes now fifty feet below looked like a nest of snakes, slithering into a dark pit of water.

The two huge wheels once used to turn the three massive pistons, now sat rusted and corroded, proving it had been quite some time since this machine last took a breath. Receding back down to ground level I followed another set of stairs, this time leading under the pipes. Only a thin rusty iron grate walk-path separated me from the seemingly bottomless pit of stagnant water just inches below. Dozens of metal valve wheels varying greatly in diameter and color remained rusted shut in their current positions. A few feet away, I was surprised to find yet another stair case that led even deeper, however it was completely submerged underwater. The rust marks just above my head showed just how deep that water had once risen.

The second building on the property was clearly much more modern but just as interesting. Control panels, dials, and buttons of all sorts sat neatly aligned in a football field sized room. A large tiled room contained numerous cement basins that sereved as filters. Water at one point passed through the basins which contained carbon pellets that served as a filtration agent. Stairwells on either side of the room led under the building where huge orange pipes carried the water. However much of this area was flooded in at least ten feet of water. As I made my departure outside, the sun began to set behind the brick building and I was able to grab a silhouette of the distant smoke stacks which seemed to complement the dark blue sky perfectly. With darkness looming, I exited.