Celebrating 120 years of water at Happy Valley Reservoir

The City of Onkaparinga Library, in partnership with South Australia’s History Festival will celebrate the 120^th anniversary of the completion of the Happy Valley Reservoir on Tuesday 24 May 2016 with a talk held at the Hub Library.

The event will provide the public the opportunity to view artefacts and photographic displays throughout the history of the reservoir.

The reservoir was built between 1892 and 1897, at a cost of $1.8 million, using small steam locomotives to haul in the 547,000 cubic metres required during construction.

The original Happy Valley town, school and cemetery needed to be relocated to allow for the construction of the reservoir.

From 2002 to 2004, the reservoir underwent a major renovation to meet guidelines for best practice of dam management at both international and national standards.

Its current capacity is 11,600 megalitres, and remains an integral part of Adelaide’s water supply.

If Happy Valley reservoir supplied the whole state, it would last almost 20 days.

SA Water’s Library Services Coordinator, Hayley Morton will be presenting at Tuesday's event providing historic details on why Adelaide was built where it is, the history of drinking water and water treatment with a particular emphasis upon the Happy Valley Reservoir.

There will also be two tours of the Happy Valley Treatment Plant on the 7^th of June, and another two on the 8^th of June with the community invited to attend.

The Happy Valley Reservoir is responsible for supplying water to the majority of Adelaide, and helps to balance out variations in demand and supply.

A current project of SA Water is upgrading the 500m over-flow channel at the reservoir to ensure it can take stormwater run-off during rain and flood events, and the reservoir remains an important community asset.

Excavation and concreting works have been completed to date.

Landscaping works will continue until the end of 2016.

To attend the event at the Hub Library, you can book online at http://historyfestival.sa.gov.au/content/120-years-happy-valley-reservoir.

Contact:

Phone: