The San Siro pumping station was completed in 1926 as part of Parmigiana-Moglia reclamation project to drain the low-lying waters (less than 25 metres above sea level) of the provinces of Reggio Emilia and Modena into the River Secchia. The water brought to the plant by an outflow canal some kilometres upstream at Moglia is channelled under the Cavo Parmigiana-Moglia by the San Prospero siphon tunnel.

The San Siro station consists of a main building containing 8 centrifugal pumps driven by an electric motor, the outflow basin and a sluiceway through which the waters of the outflow basin are conveyed into the River Secchia, while preventing the waters of the river in spate from flooding the countryside. The architecture is clearly classical in inspiration, with brick, marble and wrought iron used to combine functional and aesthetic qualities in an admirable synthesis. The pumping station belongs to the Consorzio di Bonifica dell’Emilia Centrale.