Thorndon Park Reservoir, SA
With the establishment of the colony of South Australia the water supply for the capital was the River Torrens.
As the colony grew the water in the River Torrens was used for purposes other than just water supply leading to disease and dysentery.
The colony then identified that an alternative water supply was required, and the colony’s first reservoir should be constructed. A site for this first reservoir was selected at Athelstone to the north-east of Adelaide on a site named Thorndon Park.
A plan was developed to construct a weir on the River Torrens upstream of the reservoir site and water to be diverted into the reservoir. The initial site of the weir was not successful, and a second site further upstream was then identified and a weir constructed. The reservoir was constructed between 1857 and 1860.
The water from the reservoir was piped using gravity to a valve-house on the corner of North Terrace and Hackney Road from which the water could be distributed. The first water flowed from the valve-house in 1862.
The reservoir could hold 645,000 kilolitres of water.
The reservoir continued to be used until 1977 when structural safety concerns with the reservoir wall saw it closed. The site is now a public park.
References:
South Australian Register “The Reservoir at Thorndon Park” 18 April 1859
