Growth of Canberra
The water and sewerage network for Canberra has been consistently developing over the past 100 years, responding to changes in development, technologies and population. As the population of the ACT increased so did the need for reliable water and sewerage services, from dams to treatment plants, pipes to pump stations, we have always been able to respond to the needs of Canberra.
In this section you can explore how we have grown over the past 100 years and explore our assets and the people who made them.
Building the Dams – Cotter Dam raised from 18.6m to 28.5m 1949
In 1949 work commenced to raise the height of the Cotter Dam as the population had outstripped the supply provided by the original dam.
National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) engineer Ian Mills saved this valuable government film from being discarded in the early 1980s. Ian retired from the NCDC, but kept a VHS tape of the footage and presented it to Icon Water upon hearing of the Enlarged Cotter Dam project. As the film contains no audio, we asked Ian to provide an informal narration.
[{"url":"Tiger-Reid-Plant-Operator-Bendora-construction.jpg","alt":"Tiger Reid, plant operator at the construction signage for the new dam, at that stage called the Upper Cotter Dam","caption":"Sydney based contractors E.S Clementson Pty Ltd were the successful tenderers for the construction of Bendora Dam. This image shows Tiger Reid, plant operator at the construction signage for the new dam, at that stage called the Upper Cotter Dam."},{"url":"Bendora-Dam-1975.jpg","alt":"Bendora dam","caption":"Bendora dam in 1975."},{"url":"Bendora-Gravity-Main.jpg","alt":"Trucks moving pipes for the Bendora Gravity Main to feed the water from Bendora Dam to the city","caption":"The Bendora Gravity Main was constructed to feed the water from Bendora Dam to the city via gravity which was much more economical than pumping from the Cotter Dam. The Bendora Gravity Main was constructed across nearly 20km of rugged countryside and completed in 1967 ~i~(Image credit: Mild steel pipes for the Bendora gravity main being delivered on site along the Cotter River valley, June 1966, Australian News and Information Bureau, National Library of Australia pic-an23692827)~i~."},{"url":"Bendora-Dam-2008.jpg","alt":"Bendora Dam 2008","caption":"Bendora Dam captured in 2008 during the Millenium Drought, note the exposed banks where the water level has dropped."},{"url":"Bendora-Dam-2015.jpg","alt":"Bendora Dam with people standing at the top","caption":"Bendora Dam shot from below in July 2015. Note the people across the top to get an appreciation for the size of this structure."}]Building the Dams – Bendora Dam 1961
Built in 1961, the Bendora Dam was the second dam built to store water for the growing Canberra population. The dam has a storage capacity of 11.5 gigalitres and used about 38000 cubic metres of concrete.
[{"url":"Building-Corin-Dam.jpg","alt":"Corin Dam on the left with Corin Dam workers on the right","caption":"Left: Corin Dam viewed from the skies in 2013.\nRight: workers on the diversion tunnel under construction to divert water further down the Cotter River during the building of Corin Dam in 1966 ~i~(image courtesy of National Archives of Australia)~i~.\nConditions on the dam construction were difficult. Some workers camped onsite but in addition to dealing with these remote conditions, the roads to and from the construction site were especially nerve-wracking and at times covered in snow. These conditions were a bit much for some and caused them to try their luck for work elsewhere.\n~i~(Image Credit: Dams and Weirs - Construction of Corin Dam, Australian Capital Territory, 1966. National Archives of Australia: A1200, L55355)~i~."}]Building the Dams – Corin Dam 1968
This infographic gives a snapshot of what went in to delivering excellent quality drinking water for Canberrans in 2013-14.
[{"url":"Googong-Dam-and-Prince-Charles-1979.jpg","alt":"Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, 1979","caption":"Googong Dam (left) was designed to provide future security for our water supply as our population grew. The dam and the Googong Water Treatment Plant were completed in 1978. The dam and treatment plant were officially opened in 1979 by Prince Charles ~i~(right: image courtesy of Denis Baker)~i~."}]Building the Dams – Googong Dam 1978
Did you know…
It is rumoured that when Prince Phillip visited Canberra in the late 1960s he was so confronted by the sewage smells coming from Weston Creek that he wrote letters of complaint. Planning for our main sewage treatment plant commenced soon after.
[{"url":"Ainslie-Reservoir-in-the-days-before-it-had-a-roof.jpg","alt":"Ainslie Reservoir dam without roof","caption":"In the early 1960s, the National Capital Development Commission and the Department of Works agreed to implement the policy that treated water should not be exposed to daylight until it emerged from the customer’s tap. Following this all existing and new reservoirs were roofed. This image shows Ainslie reservoir prior to getting a roof in 1964 ~i~(Image courtesy of Ian McRae collection)~i~."},{"url":"Lower-Red-Hill-Tank-B-under-construction-1954.jpg","alt":"Canberra water reservoir under construction in the 1950s","caption":"One of Canberra’s reservoirs under construction in the 1950s ~i~(Image courtesy of Australian News and Information Bureau, from Ian McRae collection)~i~."},{"url":"Narrabundah-water-reservoir.jpg","alt":"Men working on the Narrabundah water reservoir in 1961","caption":"Wire Wrapping at Narrabundah Reservoir, 1961 ~i~(Image courtesy of Australian News and Information Bureau, from Ian McRae collection)~i~."},{"url":"W-H-728-8-Aranda-Reservoir.jpg","alt":"Aranda water reservoir under construction in 1969","caption":"Aranda reservoir under construction in 1969 ~i~(Image courtesy of Australian News and Information Bureau, from Ian McRae collection)~i~."},{"url":"view-inside-Aranda-Reservoir.jpg","alt":"Inside Aranda water reservoir","caption":"A view inside Aranda Reservoir as it looks today ~i~(Image courtesy of Ian McRae collection)~i~."}]Building the network – service reservoirs
Reservoirs in the Canberra water supply system
There are 47 primary and secondary service reservoirs in the Canberra water supply system. These reservoirs store water from the treatment plant for later distribution to households.
The service reservoirs provide storage for between 250 ML and 800 ML (That's 620,000,000 to 800,000,000 litres of water!). Regular inspections are conducted to ensure there has been no unauthorised entry. There is also a program in place for reservoir cleaning.
[{"url":"drinking-water-quality-infograph-2013-14.png","alt":"infographic showing state of Canberra's drinking water in 2013-14","caption":"Infographic – Canberra's drinking water in 2013-14"}]What does it take to deliver drinking water to your tap?
This infographic gives a snapshot of what went in to delivering excellent quality drinking water for Canberrans in 2013-14.
[{"url":"LMWQCC-site-2015.jpg","alt":"Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre site under construction in 1975","caption":"LMWQCC site under construction in 1975 and the LMWQCC site in 2015."},{"url":"LMWQCC-construction-1975.jpg","alt":"Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre site in 2015","caption":"LMWQCC site under construction in 1975 and the LMWQCC site in 2015."}]LMWQCC Construction image 1975 and 2015
The view from the Lower Molonglo Water Quality Control Centre during the construction of the secondary clarifier (settling pond we use to remove solids) in November 1975 compared to the same view in July 2015 – 40 years later. Everything you can see in the 1975 picture is now underground and only identifiable by the mountain ranges in the background.
Cotter Dam 2009-2013 Time Lapse
The Enlarged Cotter Dam increased the water storage capacity of the Cotter Dam by nearly 20 times, increasing from less than 4 gigalitres to more than 76 gigalitres worth of storage.
Sustainability was a top priority during the project and sustainable initiatives included quarrying rock onsite which reduced the need for vehicle movements, planting carbon offsets and utilising biofuels during construction.
This video shows a timelapse of the construction including the effects of a flood event that had a great impact on the construction.