O'Shannassy Reservoir facts for kids
Quick facts for kids O'Shannassy Dam |
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 Location of the O'Shannassy Reservoir in Victoria
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| Country | Australia |
| Location | McMahons Creek, Victoria |
| Coordinates | 37°40′30″S 145°48′20″E / 37.67500°S 145.80556°E |
| Purpose | Water supply |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | 1922 |
| Opening date | 1928 |
| Operator(s) | Melbourne Water |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Embankment with an internal reinforced concrete wall |
| Impounds | O'Shannassy River |
| Height | 34 m (112 ft) |
| Length | 226 m (741 ft) |
| Dam volume | 245×103 m3 (8.7×106 cu ft) |
| Spillways | 1 |
| Spillway type | Uncontrolled |
| Spillway capacity | 500 cubic metres per second (18,000 cu ft/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | O'Shannassy Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 3.123 GL (687,000,000 imp gal; 825,000,000 US gal) |
| Catchment area | 11.9 ha (29 acres) |
| Surface area | 27 ha (67 acres) |
The O'Shannassy Reservoir is a special lake built by people in Australia. It holds water for Melbourne, a big city in Victoria. This reservoir was created by building the O'Shannassy Dam across the O'Shannassy River. It's located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Melbourne, near a place called McMahons Creek. The reservoir can hold about 3.1 gigalitres (that's 3.1 billion liters!) of water.
Where is the O'Shannassy Dam?
The O'Shannassy Reservoir is an important part of Melbourne's water system. It helps make sure people in the city have enough clean water. Water from this reservoir flows downhill, using gravity, to another reservoir called Silvan Reservoir. From there, it goes to other storage tanks and pipes that deliver water all over Melbourne.
How Big is the O'Shannassy Reservoir?
Even though it's the smallest water storage reservoir managed by Melbourne Water, it's very important. It can hold about 3.1 gigalitres of water. What makes it special is that it gets a lot of water from its surrounding area. On average, about 80 gigalitres of water flow into it each year!
Why Was This Location Chosen?
The spot for the O'Shannassy Dam was picked because it's high up. This means water can flow downhill naturally to Melbourne's eastern suburbs without needing big pumps. This saves a lot of energy!
A special channel, called an aqueduct, was finished in 1914. It helped move water from the O'Shannassy River to the Surrey Hills Reservoir in Melbourne. The dam itself was built later, in 1928, to create the large reservoir. Even after the dam was built, the aqueduct was still used to send river water into the system.
In the 1950s, new pipes were built that made the old aqueduct less necessary. Because of this, the aqueduct was officially stopped being used in 1997.
