Wellington Dam Hydro Power Station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wellington Dam Hydro Power Station |
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Wellington Dam during the upgrade in October 2010
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 Location of Wellington Dam Hydro Power Station in Western Australia
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| Country | Australia |
| Location | Collie, Western Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°23′52″S 115°59′27″E / 33.39778°S 115.99083°E |
| Designated | 3 February 2009 |
| Reference no. | 6344 |
Wellington Dam Hydro Power Station is a power plant near Collie, Western Australia. It uses water to make electricity! It has one special machine called a water turbine that can create 2 megawatts (MW) of electricity. This power station is one of only three like it in Western Australia. The big dam was built in 1933 and made even bigger in 1956. The power station itself was built in the 1950s.
Wellington Dam is the biggest dam in the South West region and the second largest in all of Western Australia. The Collie River fills it with water. In December 2009, the Water Corporation started a big project worth $41 million to make the dam wall even stronger.
Contents
History of Wellington Dam
Wellington Dam was first built in the early 1900s. Its main job was to supply water to towns in the southern part of Western Australia. This water went through a system of pipes called the Great Southern Towns Water Supply. It reached towns as far north as Northam and as far south as Katanning.
Water Supply and Salinity Challenges
The dam gets its water from the Collie River area. In the 1960s and 1970s, the water started to become salty. This is called salinity. To fix this, a lot of work has been done since the 1980s to plant more trees. This helps slow down the saltiness.
Because of the salty water, a new dam was built on the nearby Harris River in the 1990s. This new dam provides fresh water until Wellington Dam's water becomes fresh again in the future.
Dam's Growth Over Time
Wellington Dam was first built in 1935. Back then, it could hold about 35 billion litres of water. This water was used to help grow crops on the flat lands near the coast. Over the years, the dam was made taller and bigger. By 1960, it could hold a huge 185 billion litres of water!
Gallery
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Wellington Dam before the upgrade.
- Verve Energy page on hydrolectricity
