Millbrook Reservoir

Millbrook Reservoir
The reservoir's eastern end
Millbrook Reservoir is located in South Australia
Millbrook Reservoir
Millbrook Reservoir
LocationSouth Australia
Coordinates34°50′S 138°48′E / 34.833°S 138.800°E / -34.833; 138.800
TypeReservoir
Basin countriesAustralia
Surface area1.78 km2 (0.69 sq mi)

Millbrook Reservoir is a 16,000-megalitre artificial water storage reservoir in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. It was built from 1914 to 1918 during World War I to control water flows in the upper River Torrens and provide gravity-fed water to Adelaide's eastern suburbs. It is named after the small town of Millbrook, demolished and removed during construction. During the 1970s, the nearby town of Chain of Ponds was also removed to prevent pollution of the reservoir's water.[1]

Millbrook covers 178 hectares (440 acres) behind a 288-metre (945 ft) clay-cored earth dam.[1] It lies on Chain of Ponds creek, a tributary of the River Torrens. Water in the reservoir is piped from a weir near Gumeracha but it is also used to balance storage of River Murray water via the Mannum–Adelaide pipeline. It also captures approximately half of the Torrens' water flow.[2]

John Tippett named the town of Millbrook in the late 19th century after Millbrook in his native Cornwall.[3]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Water Storage (Reservoirs), Millbrook". SA Water. 2004. Retrieved 8 July 2008.
  2. ^ SA Water (12 December 2005). "Millbrook Reservoir Dam Safety". Parliament of South Australia. Archived from the original on 27 July 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  3. ^ Klaassen, Nic. "John Tippett". Flinders Ranges Research. Retrieved 9 July 2008.