Waterwork

nounStandard termBuilding

The traditional term for civil engineering infrastructure that controls, treats, or supplies water.

An older term for the collective infrastructure of reservoirs, pumping stations, filtration plants, and large-scale piping systems. It encompasses the heavy civil engineering required to manage municipal water supply, drainage, and irrigation networks.

Heard on the job

The excavation crew hit an old brick culvert that was part of the original city waterwork.

Also heard as

  • waterworks