Yan Yean Reservoir is the oldest water supply for the city of Melbourne, Australia. It is built on the Plenty River a tributary of the Yarra River, 30 km north of the city. A 9.5 metre embankment holds back 30,000 megalitres (30 million cubic metres) of water. Work began in 1853 at the height of the gold rush, and it took four years to construct at a cost of £750,000.
The reservoir is managed by Melbourne Water as part of the water supply system for Melbourne.
At the time of its completion in 1857 it was the largest artificial reservoir in the world.
It was designed by James Blackburn, an English Civil Engineer and former London sanitary inspector who was transported to Tasmania as a convict following charges of embezzlement. After being pardoned he came to Melbourne in 1849.
The Toorourrong Reservoir system, constructed in 1883–1885, supplies water to Yan Yean via an aqueduct.
Famous quotes containing the word reservoir:
“It’s very expressive of myself. I just lump everything in a great heap which I have labeled “the past,” and, having thus emptied this deep reservoir that was once myself, I am ready to continue.”
—Zelda Fitzgerald (1900–1948)