48 



T. H. HOUGHTON. 



the storage in Prospect Reservoir; this was finished in 

 June 1908 and handed over to the Board. 



This dam, one of the finest in the world, is built of 

 Cyclopean masonry, and has a height of 160 feet, impounds 

 2,411,000,000 gallons of water, and cost £325,000 to con- 

 struct; the full supply level is 950 feet above the sea. 



The quantity of water contained in Cataract and Prospect 

 reservoirs was sufficient for some years, but increasing 

 demands and an absence of rain on the catchment area 

 recently caused a shortage of water, which is to be obviated 

 by the construction of a dam on the Oordeaux River, and it 

 is to be hoped that its completion will temporarily provide 

 for the supply of the city and suburbs, which are growing so 

 rapidly, that any scheme of water supply to be satisfactory 

 must provide for frequent extensions; in fact nearly as soon 

 as one reservoir is completed investigations as to the site 

 of another one should be taken in hand. 



Table VIII shows the length of mains, quantity of water 

 supplied, and population in 1891 and 1916. 



Table VIII.— Water Supply. 





Sydney. 



Newcastle. 



1891 



1916 



1898 



1916 



Length of mains in miles ... 



640 



2,345 



171 



412 



Properties connected to mains . . . 



76,093 



183,598 



7,315 



22'370 



Population served 



365,246 



918,000 



36,600 



112,000 



Water delivered per annum in 











million gallons 



3,482 



14,374 



285 



1,283 



Per day 



9-54 



3938 



0781 



3-5 



Per head, gallons ... 



26- II 



42-89 



20-89 



31-80 



The Hunter River District Water Supply works were 

 completed in 1887, and handed over to the Board who now 

 control them in 1892; since that time no large works, except 

 the extension of mains and several service reservoirs, have 

 been constructed, but the increase in the population and 

 manufactures has for many years rendered the supply 



