A History That Flows On. 140 Years of Modern Waterworks and Sewers in Warsaw

Photographs and archive plans of Warsaw’s water and sewer network, shown outdoors in the Łazienki Open-Air Gallery on ul. Agrykola. Free admission, until 30 September 2026.

The Royal Łazienki Museum on the exhibition:

In 1886, water from a modern supply network flowed into Warsaw’s properties for the first time. To mark the jubilee of MPWiK w m.st. Warszawie S.A., we invite you to the exhibition “A History That Flows On. 140 Years of Modern Waterworks and Sewers in Warsaw”, which shows the development of the city’s infrastructure through photographs and historical designs.

The modern water and sewer system was the work of the English engineers William Lindley and his eldest son, William Heerlein Lindley. The infrastructure they designed gave Warsaw one of the most modern sewer systems in Europe at the time. The growth of the network was of real importance for sanitary conditions, the health of the residents and the further development of the city.

The exhibition in the Open-Air Gallery on ul. Agrykola presents photographs and designs documenting the successive stages in the development of Warsaw’s waterworks and sewers. The archive material shows how the city’s infrastructure changed and the technical solutions that, decade after decade, answered the changing needs of a growing Warsaw.

The exhibition lets you trace the history of the system begun by the Lindleys and see how, as the city grew, the ways of supplying water and of carrying away and treating sewage changed.

“A History That Flows On” is a story of infrastructure that, over generations, has become one of the basic elements of how Warsaw works.

(Translated from the museum’s Polish text.)

What to expect

This is a set of outdoor panels, not a gallery room. The museum gives the venue as the Open-Air Gallery on ul. Agrykola, the same street that gives the museum its own address (ul. Agrykoli 1). Warsaw’s water company (MPWiK, Wodociągi Warszawskie), in a statement of 10 September 2026, pins it down: inside the park from the ul. Agrykola side, at the end of Aleja Chińska (Chinese Avenue).

According to the water company there are several dozen photographs with extensive captions, so allow more time than an outdoor show usually takes. The museum also lists historical designs, which makes it worth a stop for anyone who likes engineering drawings, not just old street views.

The water company’s jubilee photographs also hang on the fence of the Filtry water treatment works on ul. Koszykowa in the Ochota district. In Łazienki you can fold the show into a walk in the park rather than plan a separate trip.

Context

Warsaw switched on its modern waterworks in 1886, under the city president Sokrates Starynkiewicz, at a time when the city was part of the Russian Empire. The system was designed by the British engineer William Lindley, who had already built networks in Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main, and its construction was led by his son William Heerlein Lindley. The heart of it, the Filtry station on ul. Koszykowa, is still in operation.

Łazienki has hosted a waterworks show before: in summer 2017 the same Open-Air Gallery on ul. Agrykola displayed “Wodociągi Warszawskie - alfabet fotograficzny” (Warsaw Waterworks - a photographic alphabet).

Tickets and time

• Free admission, as the museum states; the panels are in the park, so there is no ticket desk and no queue.
• Dates: 1-30 September 2026.
• Hours: the park is open daily 6:00-22:00 (6 AM - 10 PM), and entry to the gardens is free.
• How long: 20-30 minutes if you read the captions; about 15 if you only look at the photographs.
• Finding it: from ul. Agrykola, at the end of Aleja Chińska (per the water company).
• English on site: the museum does not say whether the captions are bilingual, and its English website has no page for this show.

Who it is for: Warsaw history and engineering enthusiasts, families with school-age children curious about where tap water comes from, and anyone already walking in Łazienki. Do not cross the city for it if you are after art rather than infrastructure - this is documentation, not an art show. To see the Filtry site itself from the inside, you need one of the Water Supply Museum’s open days.

See also

• Museum of Water Supply and Sewage - the collection inside the Lindley Filters complex, where the story on the Łazienki panels begins.
• “A Photojournalist at War. 36 Frames” - an open-air show on the other side of the park, in the Open-Air Gallery on Aleje Ujazdowskie, also free and on until 30 September 2026.
• “Stills from the Film Lalka (The Doll)” - stills from the new screen adaptation of Prus’s novel, also in the Open-Air Gallery but on the other side of the park, along Aleje Ujazdowskie; free, until 31 October 2026.
• Royal Łazienki Museum - palaces, tickets and free Fridays (every Friday free entry to the Palace on the Isle and other buildings) if you want to go indoors after the show.

Museum profile: Royal Łazienki Museum.