't Leven pumping station, Zaandijk

Zaandijk, as the saying goes, begins with life and ends with death: on the south side of the village of Zaandijk, the imposing corn mill De Dood (Death) still stands, while on the north side, the polder mill 't Leven (Life) stood until 1904. The polder mill may have borrowed its name from its big brother on the south side. While De Dood still shows tourists the way to the Zaanse Schans, the 't Leven mill has disappeared. The pumping station that replaced it is less striking, but nevertheless a very special monument.

In the first half of the 17th century, the Beemster, the Schermer, and all other large lakes were drained. This greatly reduced the water storage capacity in North Holland, known as the Schermerboezem. There was now too little 'space for water'. The Zaan was part of the Schermerboezem and was often full to the brim. This meant that it was no longer possible to drain the water through a small lock. The only solution was to build mills to pump out the water, and so in 1632 the Westzaan polder also had to build a mill, which was nicknamed 'Het leven' (Life). The mill stood on the border between Zaandijk and Wormerveer; Death stood on the border with Koog aan de Zaan, hence the saying.

Over time, a local custom became associated with the 't Leven windmill: when children in Zaandijk had a new baby brother or sister, they were told that the baby had been 'ground' by the polder mill and picked up there by their mother. The grinding pit could swirl and bubble tremendously, and all kinds of objects and fish could be seen there, so why not a baby? It was said that children would sometimes stand at the grinding pit, straining to see into the water in the hope of seeing the new baby.

For centuries, the mill fulfilled its task. In 1867, the paddle wheel was replaced by a screw pump, but for a long time, the Westzaan polder had no need for more modern methods of drainage at this location. A proposal by the chief landowners in 1891 to replace the windmill with a steam pumping station was not accepted by the dike reeve and his assistants. In 1899, 't Leven survived another lightning strike, but on April 5, 1904, during a storm, the mill shaft broke and the mill was so badly damaged that the polder board decided to replace it with "a water machine with a motor."

In a short period of time, the mill was demolished and the miller retired. Instead, a pumping station, a house for the engineer, and a coal shed with a workshop were built. A centrifugal pump powered by a suction gas engine was chosen, meaning that the engine ran on coal that was converted into gas under high pressure, with the idea that this would be cheaper than a steam pumping station. On Saturday, August 18, 1904, the first stone, which is still there today, was laid by dike reeve Cornelis Kuyt Dirksz (1836-1913). The pumping station inherited the name of the mill and was given a weather vane with the name carved into it.

It took a while before the pumping station was ready for use, but it finally became operational in 1906. However, the suction gas engine did not work properly from the outset, which led to disputes with the manufacturer and cost-cutting measures such as the abolition of free cigars during meetings. That decision was reversed when it turned out that the costs were still lower than those of the steam pumping station elsewhere in the polder. Ultimately, the problems were solved by switching to an electric motor in 1916.

However, the complex, built in 1904 in purple-red brick, has been preserved without too many changes and is significant as a very well-preserved example of early 20th-century mechanical polder drainage, in conjunction with the signal mast that still stands next to it. Between 1904 and 1970, this signal mast was used to coordinate drainage on the Schermerboezem. As soon as the water in Spijkerboor reached Amsterdam Water Level, the stop signal was given and everyone had to stop pumping. In Spijkerboor, a blue flag was hoisted during the day or a lantern was lit at night, after which the signal masts passed on the message to stop. In this way, drainage could be shut down throughout North Holland in about two hours.

The floor tiles decorated with floral motifs and the wall tiles inside the pumping station are also well preserved, as is the unusual and rare centrifugal pump, manufactured by the Royal Dutch Machine Factory in Helmond, founded in 1871. The manufacture of centrifugal pumps was a specialty of this company. Also noteworthy are the two electric motors installed in 1916. Today, drainage is largely taken over by the modern pumping station next to 't Leven, known as 't Leven 2.

Extra

The 't Leven pumping station is not located on any walking routes or longer cycling routes, which are on the other side of the Zaan. However, the pumping station is part of a special pumping station cycling route in the Zaan region.