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Phasing Out of the Original Eight Steam Pumping Stations Print Page Print this page

(Diane Watson)
(Diane Watson)
Photographs supplied by Diane Watson

The plaque commemorates the phasing out of the original eight steam pumping stations of the Goldfields Water Supply.

The eight steam powered pumping stations commissioned in 1903 were located at Mundaring Weir where there were two, one above the weir and one below the weir, Cunderdin, Merredin, Yerbillon, Ghouli, Gilgari and Dedari.  

No 8 Pump Station at Dedari was last of the original steam powered pump stations to operate, the engines were shut down for the last time in 1970.  

In 1903 the first water was pumped from Perth to Kalgoorlie, 600 kilometres east, along the newly built Coolgardie Water Supply pipeline. The pipeline was the vision of Charles Yelverton O`Connor, Chief Engineer of Western Australia from 1891 to 1902, who managed what many people considered was the impossible, to pump 22,700 cubic metres of water from the plentiful supplies of Mundaring Weir (East of Perth), lifting it 355 metres with only eight pumping stations, and delivering it to the dry goldfield towns 600 kilometres away. This major engineering feat was treated with much scepticism by the press and politicians of the day whose unprecedented criticism of the project drove O`Connor to suicide a year before the pipeline became operational.

Location

Address:Goldfields Highway, Mount Charlotte Reservoir, Kalgoorlie, 6430
State:WA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -30.738333
Long: 121.478611
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Technology
Sub-Theme:Industry
Approx. Event Start Date:1903

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Friday 3rd April, 1970
Front Inscription

Goldfields Water Supply Scheme

This plaque was unveiled by the Hon Ross Hutchinson D. F. C., M. L. A. Minister for Works and Water Supplies on 3rd April 1970

To commemorate the completion of the phasing out of the original eight steam pumping stations commissioned in 1903

The Scheme was constructed 1898 - 1903 under the direction of C. Y. O’Connor, ESQ. C.M.G. M. INST. CE Engineer-In-Chief of Western Australia

1891 – 1902

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au