PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 47 



the highest one being at Ohatswood, S70 feet above sea 

 level; they had in 1891 a capacity of 15,710,000 gallons, 

 exclusive of Potts' Hill balance reservoir, which holds 

 100,000,000 gallons, and is now being extended. 



Only two of them, containing 3,400,000 gallons, are at a 

 sufficiently low elevation to be fed by gravity from Prospect, 

 the water having to be raised by pumps to the others. 



In 1894 the large reservoir in Centennial Park, which 

 has a capacity of 17,000,000 gallons and a top water level 

 of 245 feet, was completed, and the Paddington reservoir 

 abandoned. The growth of population on the South Coast 

 line required additional storage capacity, and a steel tank 

 holding 1,000,000 gallons was erected at Penshurst, and 

 the rapid development along the Milson's Point-Hornsby 

 railway line necessitated the construction of a tank holding 

 1,000,000 gallons at Wahroonga at a height of 720 feet 

 above high water mark. 



The capacity of the service reservoirs is now over 58 

 million gallons, the highest one being 776 feet above sea 

 level. 



The Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage, 

 who control the supply to Sydney, had since their incorpor- 

 ation in 1888 been vigorously extending the area reticulated, 

 but no steps were taken to increase the supply until 1899, 

 when the low level of the water in Prospect Reservoir 

 caused them to make inquiries as to the facilities for the 

 storage of additional water, and surveys were made of the 

 catchment area to discover suitable sites for this purpose. 



Early in 1902, the withdrawal of water from Prospect 

 Reservoir had lowered the level below that necessary for 

 gravitation to Sydney, and machinery had to be provided 

 for raising it into the supply channel. As a result of this 

 shortage, the Government determined to proceed with the 

 construction of a dam on the Cataract River to supplement 



