User:Aliaretiree/Drummoyne reservoir



Drummoyne Reservoir is a heritage listed elevated steel water supply service water tower, constructed between 1910-1913 as part of the water supply system for Sydney. The tower acted as a storage and balance reservoir for the suburb of Drummoyne and was disconnected from the system in 1994.

Location
The Drummoyne Reservoir and tower (WS0038), also identified as RS8, was built at 88 Rawson Avenue Drummoyne. The reservoir is located at latitude 33 51 27 S longitude 151 09 05 E. and was one of two reservoirs built in Sydney with an attached tower and was the only reservoir to feature a tower or campanile as a deliberate ornament which provides access to the top walk-way.

It is now the only reservoir with its tower surviving. The combined tower and reservoir is a local landmark. The provision of the tower is associated with Sir Thomas Henley, a prominent local identity and politician who was also a member of the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage in Sydney and who had been instrumental in the provision of these reservoirs.

Architecture and construction


The Drummoyne Reservoir is a Federation Free Classical style structure, one of the four elevated service reservoirs built in New South Wales between 1910 and 1914. The reservoir was designed by J.G.S. Purvis, a design engineer employed by the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage. The substructure was built by Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage and the tank was fabricated by Poole & Steele Ltd from 1910-1913. The reservoir is a large circular steel tank with riveted steel wall mounted upon a circular concrete slab which is supported above the ground on an inner grid of steel columns and girders and an outer ring of arched concrete columns. The tank is 80 feet (24.6 m) in diameter and 40 feet (12.3 m) in height. The reservoir was designed to hold a million gallons of water.

The Drummoyne Reservoir (WS0038) is one of a group of elevated steel water supply service reservoirs built between 1910 and 1915 as part of the Sydney metropolitan water supply system. It served as a storage and balance reservoir for Drummoyne from 1913 to 1965. The construction of Drummoyne (R38), along with Penshurst No.2, Bellevue Hill and Ashfield No.2 between 1910-1914, marked a new phase in the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage’s reservoir development, with the composite use of reinforced concrete and mild steel setting these reservoirs apart from their predecessors.

The 1913 Handbook of the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage gives the following description: "Drummoyne Elevated Tank T.W.L.: 168.00ft; capacity: 1,000,000 gallons; depth of water: 32ft. This is an open elevated steel tank, 80ft, diameter, erected on concrete arches and steel stanchions and girders, with a reinforced concrete floor, situated in Rawson Avenue, Drummoyne. It is filled with gravitation water from Potts Hill, and acts as a storage and balance reservoir for Drummoyne. A square tower or campanile has been attached to the front of this tank for ornamental purposes, and is utilised as a stairway to top of tank". The reservoir is associated with Sir Thomas Henley KBE, MP (1860-1935) who was an alderman for Drummoyne from 1898 to 1934 and mayor four times.

In the early 1960s the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage instituted a policy of roofing all of its 160 existing reservoirs. Drummoyne Reservoir was roofed in 1975 and safety railing added to the catwalk. The reservoir was formally disconnected from the system in 1994.

Heritage listing
Drummoyne Reservoir was decommissioned in 1965 and is the only reservoir with a surviving tower in New South Wales.

The reservoir and tower have been heritage listed:
 * New South Wales State agency heritage register (2000)
 * National Trust of Australia register (2000)
 * City of Canada Bay Heritage Schedule

In 2018 Sydney Water sold the land surrounding the reservoir and tower. Community action sought to prevent the sale and seeking to fund restoration with a petition, organised by City of Canada Bay mayor Angelo Tsirekas, collecting more than 1500 signatures.