Built for Chlorination
The Sue Water Purification Plant Slow Filtration Treated Water Pump Room (末浄水場緩速浄水ポンプ室, Sue Jōsuijō Kansoku Jōsui Ponpushitsu) is a single-storey reinforced concrete building constructed in 1932 at the Sue Water Purification Plant in Suemachi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, and was registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 28 August 2001. It stands just north of the collecting well at the western edge of the site and, at 12 square metres, is the smallest registered building here.
It is called a pump room today, but the Agency for Cultural Affairs identifies it as the former chlorination room. Adding chlorine to filtered water to disinfect it is still the last step in treatment. The Sue Water Purification Plant Slow Filtration Treated Water Pump Room was built to do that for the slow-filtration water gathered in the collecting well next door.
The Kanazawa City Public Enterprise Bureau dates its completion to March 1932, after the basins of 1930 and the filters of 1931, in the same year as the front garden.
Framed by Pilasters and Beams
It was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape, as one of the pair of buildings that close the western end of the supply axis.
The building faces the filters. It is a simple rectangle on one floor, each elevation outlined by projecting pilaster and beam forms that bring the idea of a structural frame to the surface.
On so small a building the framing tells. Pilasters at the corners and a beam band along the top enclose each wall like a picture frame and give a 12-square-metre box a firm outline. Next to the curving collecting well, it is all straight lines.
The Designers' Names
In its entry for the Sue Water Purification Plant Slow Filtration Treated Water Pump Room, the Agency records that Kanazawa's first waterworks was planned and designed by Ōi Seiichi and Ishii Kazuo: Ōi, a professor at Kyoto Imperial University, supervising, and Ishii, head of the city waterworks office and chief engineer, preparing the working design.
Of the twelve registered structures, this is the only entry that names them. Their names are attached to the small room that gave the water its final guarantee of safety.
Look too at how it pairs with the collecting well. Curved and straight side by side at the end of the axis, the two turn the head of the walkway into something like a small square.
Seeing It
The pump room stands at the western edge of the site, far from the front garden that is open without booking, and published sources do not say whether it can be seen from there.
The water facilities are shown on pre-booked group tours, which the bureau says cover the treatment process and the sedimentation basins and filters. Whether the pump room is included is not stated, so ask when applying. Tours are for groups, and applications are due two weeks ahead.
Nothing is published on photography, so ask the guide. Directions and garden hours are on the Sue Water Purification Plant page.
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Q&A
- What was the Sue Water Purification Plant Slow Filtration Treated Water Pump Room originally used for?
- According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs it was the chlorination room, where filtered water was disinfected with chlorine.
- Where is the pump room at Sue Water Purification Plant?
- Just north of the collecting well at the western edge of the site, facing the filters.
- What does the Sue Water Purification Plant Slow Filtration Treated Water Pump Room look like?
- A small rectangular single-storey building of 12 square metres, each side framed by projecting pilaster and beam forms.
- Who designed the pump room at Sue Water Purification Plant?
- The Agency records that Kanazawa's first waterworks was planned and designed by Ōi Seiichi and Ishii Kazuo.
- When was the pump room at Sue Water Purification Plant registered?
- On 28 August 2001, as registration number 17-0053.
Basic Information
| Name | Sue Water Purification Plant Slow Filtration Treated Water Pump Room (末浄水場緩速浄水ポンプ室) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-1 Suemachi, Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), registration number 17-0053; criterion: contribution to the historic landscape |
| Year Designated | Registered 2001/08/28 (Heisei 13) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey reinforced concrete, building area 12 m² |
| Owner | Kanazawa City |
| Public Access | Not stated whether booked group tours include it (front garden open without booking) |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Sue Water Purification Plant Slow Filtration Treated Water Pump Room
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00002241
- Kanazawa City Public Enterprise Bureau — Inside the Waterworks
- https://www2.city.kanazawa.ishikawa.jp/etc/himitsu/water/introduction.html
- Kanazawa City Public Enterprise Bureau — Registered Tangible Cultural Properties at Sue Water Purification Plant
- https://www2.city.kanazawa.ishikawa.jp/about_us/facility_tour/water02/water04/
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Sue Water Purification Plant Garden (detailed description)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/401/00003666
- Kanazawa City Public Enterprise Bureau — Sue Water Purification Plant Facility Tours (booking required)
- https://www2.city.kanazawa.ishikawa.jp/about_us/facility_tour/water01/
- Kanazawa City Public Enterprise Bureau — Sue Water Purification Plant Front Garden (no booking required)
- https://www2.city.kanazawa.ishikawa.jp/about_us/facility_tour/water02/
Last verified: 2026.09.24
