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Engineering and Water Supply Department was South Australia's water and sewerage utility wholly owned by the Government of South Australia.

History
In the early days of Adelaide, citizens not sufficiently wealthy to have their own wells relied on carted water which, coming from the River Torrens at the ford between Morphett Street and King William Road, was polluted and probably unsafe to drink. The carters were a law unto themselves: exempt from road tolls despite causing more damage to the roads than any other vehicle, and colluding in the rates they charged, ostracising any of their number who undercharged. One carter, "Worthy" Worthington George Nicholls, who was found to be delivering free loads to the poor, was persecuted mercilessly and eventually killed himself.

Waste disposal was similarly chaotic. The effluent from soap factories and tanneries was discharged onto roads or into the River Torrens, and human waste of those who had not dug pits was collected by nightcart men. There was no systematic drainage of the roads, which in winter could become a quagmire.

John Stephens, editor of The Register, knew the city could never progress without a huge investment in public infrastructure and at a well-attended lecture at the Mechanics' Hall called a public meeting for 13 February 1849 to address the problem. The Adelaide Times dismissed the public meeting as Stephens' attempt to upstage J. H. Fisher, disparaged his lecture, and cast doubts as to whether the better class of people would attend. Whatever the reason, only sixty turned up. Stephens died the following year and no-one with any crusading zeal took his place. The political class was appointed, not elected, so may have been more concerned with balancing the books than investing in the future. Attempts by the City Council to borrow funds to pipe water from Brownhill Creek were blocked by the Legislative Council.

The Colonial Architect, W. B. Hayes, proposed that a water and sewerage board be formed along the lines of that established for London, but again was defeated by the Legislative Council. Attempts by The Register to hasten things along met with public apathy.

Waterworks and Drainage Commission
Finally, on 10 June 1856 the Waterworks and Drainage Commission was appointed with Sir Samuel Davenport as Chief Commissioner, with G. M. Waterhouse and J. Lazar (the then mayor of Adelaide) forming the Commission. G. E. Hamilton was appointed Engineer at a salary of £800 p.a. (considerably more than the Chief Commissioner at £500 and the Commissioners at £200 each.

The membership of the Commission did not last long. Davenport resigned in 1857 to take a seat in South Australia's first elected parliament (he later became Premier), W. H. Maturin was appointed his successor, and Waterhouse resigned in protest at being sidelined. Maturin resigned in 1858 and this time Waterhouse was appointed Chief.

Hamilton did not last long either. The £175,000 cost estimate for road drainage was not accepted by parliament, the foundations for the weir across the Torrens Gorge had to be made more substantial (and expensive) than originally estimated, and the design for the sewerage and sewage treatment was criticised by S. C. Homersham as contrary to best practice. The Commissioner of Public Works, Thomas Reynolds, did his best to undermine Waterhouse's plans. The final straw was a storm and flood in July 1858 which washed away the Torrens Gorge weir (near Campbelltown), which was found to be defective in construction and materials used. Though the Clerk of Works was found negligent in his oversight of the contract, Hamilton's reputation suffered and he resigned, to be replaced by John England. Thorndon Park reservoir was completed in 1860, but England was criticised by Benjamin Boothby for making excessive payments to contractors on its construction and departed the colony in 1867.

stumbled across politics behind Barossa scheme

Waterworks Department
Having discovered the disadvantages of an independent Commission, the government set about creating a department under the Commissioner of Public Works, along with the Roads, Railways, and Telegraph departments. The department became a target of accusations of mismanagement between successive Hanson and Reynolds governments, with J. D. Woods, Manager of Waterworks, the unfortunate pawn in the power play.

Bores
Productive bores at Plympton and Morphettville in 1915 delivered 10,000 gph and 15,000 gph respectively.

Water hardness
In the days of steamships, such vessels would not take on water at Port Adelaide for their boilers due to the accumulation of boiler scale from Adelaide's hard water.

Engineering and Water Supply Department (E&WS)

 * Morgan Whyalla (1940–1944)
 * Mannum Adelaide (1949–1955


 * Water filtration and treatment plants

SA Water

 * Reverse osmosis plant

Reservoirs of South Australia

 * Thorndon Park completed 1862
 * Hope Valley 1873
 * Beetaloo 1890
 * Happy Valley 1897
 * Barossa 1902
 * Bundaleer 1903
 * Warren 1916
 * Millbroook 1918
 * Baroota 1921
 * Tod River 1922
 * Mount Bold 1938
 * South Para 1958
 * Myponga 1962
 * Middle River 1968
 * Kangaroo Creek 1969
 * Little Para 1979

http://www.sawater.com.au/SAWater/Education/OurWaterSystems/WaterStorageReservoirs.htm