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The Pulgas Water Temple is the western terminus of the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, which brings water from the Sierra Nevadas to the San Francisco Peninsula. The Hetch Hetchy Project took 24 years to build at a cost of $102 million.
This is one of only three such temples in the U.S., modeled after those erected near canals and waterways by the ancient Greeks. The Sunol Water Temple is the nearest such water temple.
From the San Francisco PUC web page:
Pulgas Water Temple was designed in the Beaux Arts style by William Merchant, a San Francisco architect trained by Bernard Maybeck. Merchant’s design featured fluted columns and Corinthian capitals to reflect the architecture of ancient Greeks and Romans, whose engineering methods were used to build the new water system. Artist and master stone carver Albert Bernasconi brought Merchant’s drawings to life.
Pulgas Water Temple and its parking lot are open to the public on weekdays, Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
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