The WATER TOWER, located at Mendoza and Falucho streets in Mar del Plata, is a NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK, which continues to serve the important function for which it was unveiled on 30 of January of 1943. It supplies water to the most elevated Burroughs in town and provides a magnificent panoramic view of all four cardinal points of the city.

Designed by architect CORNELIO LANGE, the WATER TOWER is now managed by OBRAS SANITARIAS MAR DEL PLATA SOCIEDAD DE ESTADO (O. S. S. E), Mar del Plata’s Water and Sewage municipal company. The WATER TOWER was built on the highest point of STELLA MARIS hill, which measures 40.75m. above sea level and its lookout, which holds 50 people, reaches 74.75m. At its top, the WATER TOWER measures 88.40m.

You can reach the lookout walking up a 194 step staircase or accessing a comfortable elevator that matches the building’s architectural style. The elevator rises through the ring shaped water tank that rests just below the lookout.

Since it was going to be built on the most elevated part area of town and it needed to match the residential characteristics of the burrough, a pre-project tender was called for. Out of the 6 presented options, architect Lange’s one was chosen. The building is Tudor in style and of Nordic inspiration. The facing of the facade is decorated with what is known as Mar del Plata stone, which makes TOWER bear a resemblance toa medieval castle. The TOWER has a hipped roof with opposite gables equal in size. In the round finished corners, the roof is articulated by 10 slopes, 8 of which are equal.

The work is complemented by a 2 part cistern with a capacity of 13,000,000ltr. The elevated tank stores 500,000ltr, for the distribution of drinking water to Mar del Plata’s higher areas. The cistern is half a block wide and whole block long, from Mendoza to Paunero street. It has an external wall 3 meters high and 6 meters deep. In order to carry out the excavation, the use of dynamite was necessary to break the rock that is found in this terrain, since it is a quarry area.

The WATER TOWER is part of the sanitary infrastructure of this city. It is rather atypical in terms of its topography and it heavily impacts on the water and sewage distribution systems. It could be summarized as: Rich groundwater on both the North and the West, salt water on the East and stone on the South.

There are other factors that make the situation more complex. Among them, the inclines and the hills present problems that need to be sorted out. While in other cities gravitation is sufficient to carry out the provision of drinking water and the drain residual water, Mar del Plata has to rely on a large number of pumping systems.

Regarding the collection of drinking water, Mar del Plata is, perhaps, the only city in the world of such magnitude, which is provided for exclusively from groundwater wells. The quality of the aquifer is such that it distinguishes the city.

Today, the WATER TOWER stands up as majestic symbol of all this work by OBRAS SANITARIAS MAR DEL PLATA SOCIETY OF STATE (O. S. S. E.).