Umberumberka Waterworks
Broken Hill is a remote mining town in the far west of New South Wales 1,160 kilometres west of Sydney and 410 kilometres from Adelaide in South Australia. Water supply was critical for the town from the earliest times and the need increased when mining for silver, lead and zinc commenced there in 1883.
In 1892 a private water company the Broken Hill Water Supply Company Limited was formed and built the Stephens Creek Reservoir, 15 kilometres north east of Broken Hill. This company continued to supply water until 1916 when the water supply was taken over by the New South Wales Department of Public Works.
However, Stephens Creek had insufficient capacity and by 1901, public protest led to the first proposal for a dam on Umberumberka Creek, After delays of various kinds including lack of local finance, the Department of Public Works took over the responsibility for financing and constructing the project. Work commenced in 1911 and the scheme was commissioned in 1915.
The Umberumberka Waterworks project was a complete supply system consisting of a concrete gravity dam, steam pumping station, rising main pipeline to a balance tank on Blue Anchor Hill 2.7 km south east of Umberumberka, and a gravity main from Blue Anchor Hill to Broken Hill a distance of 25 km, delivering to a pair of service reservoirs at Block 10 Hill. The steam pumping system was superseded by diesel driven pumps in 1960 however the steam plant was preserved.
With upgradings, the water supply scheme is still in service, however other sources have been added as the water demand in Broken Hill grew over the years.
The scheme is representative of the difficulties involved in providing sufficient water of reasonable quality for towns in remote and arid areas of Australia, and particularly with the added need to support a vigorous world-class mining operation.
Broken Hill is still threatened by water shortages as supply from the Darling River is affected by a changing environment.
Engineering Heritage Recognition Program
| Marker Type | National Engineering Landmark (NEL) |
| Award Date | 11 June 2010 |
| Heritage Significance | The provision of a water supply system to the rich Broken Hill mining area was crucial to its development. |
| Nomination Document | Available here. |
| Ceremony Booklet | Not available. |
