Reservoir under park lands at North Adelaide a cathedral to water built in 1879 for even supply to Port Adelaide
North Adelaide Service Reservoir (pictured during a cleaning operation), underground in city park lands at the corner of O’Connell Street and Barton Terrace, was finely constructed in 1879 with red-brick arcades comprising piers and arches for its role to supply even water pressure to Port Adelaide and the western suburbs of South Australia's capital.
Images courtesy Keith Conlon and City of Adelaide
One of Adelaide’s grandest structures as a cathedral to water, North Adelaide Service Reservoir – a significant South Australian feat of hydraulic engineering in South Australian history – remained hidden and operating from the 1870s underneath the Adelaide city park lands.
North Adelaide Service Reservoir, at the corner of O’Connell Street and Barton Terrace, North Adelaide, was constructed in 1879 by the South Australian government’s new hydraulic engineers department to provide more consistent pressure for the Port Adelaide area and other western suburbs. Adelaide water supply was crucial to driving the sewage system – a breakthrough in public health.
From the earliest European settlement days of the drought-prone South Australia, water was an issue. Early River Torrens supplies quickly dropped in quality and weren’t enough for the growing population. Concern for public health required the reserving of important water-catchment areas such as Brownhill Creek as early as 1840. The later water-dependant sewerage system for Adelaide required more water. The River Torrens weir and aqueduct was built from 1859 to 1872 as part of Adelaide’s first reticulated water scheme.
In 1877, visiting hydraulic engineer W. Clark recommended many ways to improve South Australia’s water supply. Among these was a service reservoir in North Adelaide to supply Port Adelaide. It was approved by parliament with Act No. 99 on October 22, 1878.
Previously, the South Australian government had gained the services of the first local hydraulic engineer Oswald Brown to head its hydraulic engineers department. Brown readily accepted the idea for the North Adelaide Service Reservoir that was built in 1879 by the nationally known contractor John Robb, who’d previously constructed a section of the Adelaide sewers and later did the Victor Harbor breakwater.
For a utilitarian structure hidden from public siight, the reservoir had a high technical degree in construction, materials and design, with its finely constructed red-brick arcades comprising piers and arches.
The reservoir was about 33.5 metres long and wide and had an overall internal clear height of about 5.8 metres. The brick arched roof was supported by the internal arcades and piers and the top of the perimeter walls. The nine arch-roofed bays each had a span of about 2.9 metres. The reservoir’s original pump house building, on the western side of the tank mound, was also the access point for the tank.
In the 21st Century, SA Water said the 4.7 million-litre tank still supplied about 100,000 people and remained “a critical part of our water supply network”. The reservoir was South Australian state heritage listed in 2017.
