GCWW Menu

Tours

Take a Tour!

Greater Cincinnati Water Works offers two tours:

1. The Water Works Museum and Treatment Process Tour

First Thursday of every month (or other days/times by appointment) from 10:00 am to noon
Please reserve your spot at least one week in advance using the request form below.
Age Requirement: 8 and up, no exceptions.

  • The GCWW Water History Museum, which details the progression of providing the region with safe water for 200+ years.
  • The facilities used to process, treat, and clean the water, including sand filtration, Granular Activated Carbon (GAC), and Ultraviolet Disinfection (UV).
  • The state-of-the-art lab facilities and testing processes that ensure the safety of the water.
  • An explanation of how water from the Ohio River is treated to produce safe drinking water.
  • An understanding of how water is delivered to the people who live in the region... from source to tap!

 

The Water Works Museum and Treatment Process Tour Guidelines

General Public Tour Request Form
School groups and large groups (12+) Tour Request Form
Tour Waiver

We suggest watching these Videos prior to the tour:
RMTP Background
RMTP Labs
 

2. Old River Station Historical Tour

First Saturday of every month from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Please reserve your spot at least one week in advance using the request form below.
Age Requirement: 8 and up, no exceptions.

  • The pump house and its history, beginning at ground level before the structure was lowered by hand to 105 feet below grade.
  • The engine house, which is the boiler house that supplied steam to the engines, along with the coal storage area and riverside coal handling dock.
  • The pump pit floor where you will stand among the four engines as they rest on a 20-foot-thick wood caisson, six feet under the floor of the Ohio River.
  • The great pump chamber that moved a staggering 30,000,000 gallons of water every day for 57 years.

 

Old River Station Historical Tour Guidelines

Tour Request Form
Tour Waiver

We suggest watching these GCWW Old River Station (ORS) History Videos prior to the tour:
Introduction (@ 15 min)
Part-1 Engine Operations (@ 15 min) 
Part-2 Water Pumping Components and Process Steam (@15 min)
Part-3 Station Construction (@35 min)