Excerpt from the Traralgon & District Historical Society Inc. Bulletin May 1994
TRARALGON WATER SUPPLY, by DONALD DUNBAR, M.B.E.

We had a large attendance at our February (1994) Meeting when Mr. Donald Dunbar, M.B.E., addressed the gathering. In the absence of our President, our Vice-President, Don Macreadie, welcomed members and visitors, and introduced the Speaker.

Mr. Dunbar told us that the first Traralgon water supply came from a pump installed in 1877 on the Traralgon Creek just north of the Long Bridge in Argyle Street.

In 1880 the Railway Reservoir was constructed, in Hickox Street, for the supply of water to the railway station only, but in 1884 the Shire of Traralgon obtained permission to tap into the railway pipeline for fire-fighting purposes only. By the following February, pipes had been laid to Franklin Street at a cost of £31.8.0d. (Click on thumbnail to enlarge Photo at right, the Railway Reservoir Circa 1890 from the Society's archives).  The site of the Railway Reservoir is now a conservation park.

As there was still no domestic water supply, a meeting was called by the Shire, to be held on 5th August, 1889, to consider a supply. Many meetings, chaired by President of the Shire, Cr. Hugh Dunbar, followed. Three proposals were put forward and finally a plebiscite among ratepayers was held. The proposals were for (1) Tyers River (gravity) £14,000, (2) Traralgon Creek (gravity) £12,000, and (3) Traralgon Creek (pump) £11,400. The result of the poll was 231 in favour of Tyers River scheme, 53 against.

In 1907 Government approval was obtained and a Trust was formed, comprising 6 Councillors and 3 Government nominees. The first Secretary was Walter West and the first Engineer A. Sambell. In 1908 water was supplied to the area from Breed Street to Franklin Street, Grey Street to Princes Street. By the 1920s, the water supply was extended to Loch Park Road to Gordon Street and from Campbell Street to Shakespeare Street.

Owing to pressure problems it became necessary to replace the 6" cast iron pipes from Tyers with 10" wood stave pipes. The water tower at the corner of Fairview Street and Henry Street was built and in 1933, at a cost of £1,869, the Hilltop Reservoir was constructed as a Town Reserve Supply.  (the photo right, is Harry Pickering, with your webmaster Wally Pickering, aged 4, working in the shadow of the water tower, in 1944.   The photo left, was taken in 1999.)

With the post-war building boom, the system became overloaded in the 1950s necessitating the construction of an 18" main from Tyers and another reservoir, known as "Black's" on the Hazelwood Road.

In 1956 the construction of Moondarra Reservoir brought a great change but still problems existed, especially after flooding as the water became very dirty. The Trust and its engineers spent a great deal of time designing a suitable water treatment plant and obtaining Government approval and financial resources.

Mr. Dunbar, as Chairman, and Mr. Scroggie, Engineer, were sent to Stockholm to finalize design with the specialist engineering consortium that supplied technique selected for the treatment plant.

By 1981, residents of Traralgon were supplied with treated water. The cost was - construction of plant £4,800,000, Clark's Road storage £300,000 and connecting pipeline £1,000,000.

A further extension of the existing water system was made by 1991. Reticulated bore water was supplied to Traralgon South as a separate project.

In 1983 the Traralgon Water Trust and the Sewerage Authority amalgamated to form the Traralgon Water Board, comprising 6 City representatives, 2 Shire representatives and 2 Government nominees.

In May 1991, a Government edict destroyed the entity of the Traralgon Water Board by amalgamating a number of Gippsland water boards operating from several rivers, to form the Gippsland Water Authority. There was no consultation with ratepayers this time.

Mr. Dunbar paid tribute to the many engineers who gave such good service during nearly 90 years to supplying water to Traralgon.

Mr. Dunbar also spoke about the Sewerage Authority under the following broad headlines :
       Constituted in the early 1930s

       Construction started, in 1938-39 but stopped at the onset of war. Construction recommenced after                             the war.

      The Treatment Plant was shut down by order of the Government in 1960 and all town effluent           (untreated) was discharged into the Latrobe Valley Outfall Sewer.

     The Town was completely reticulated and debt-free for sewerage at 17th May, 1991.

Many questions were asked at the conclusion of the talk, showing the great interest generated by it. Mrs. Dawn Hustler thanked the Speaker on behalf of the Society and presented him with a small gift.

TRARALGON WATER SUPPLY - EXCURSION (Dawn Hustler)

On Sunday, 13th February, (1994) we all gathered at the Tyers/Walhalla Rd. corner for our excursion, led by Mr. Don Dunbar, to places associated with the Traralgon Water Trust.

Mr. Dunbar spent 35 years with the Traraigon Water Trust and the Sewerage Authority (25 years as Chairman), so he was well able to give us a full account of its history.

We went first to Wirilda Park and the pumping station on the Tyers River which is often subjected to flooding. The original pipeline from the Tyers River was 6" cast iron and served from 1908 - 1918 when it was replaced by a 10" wooden stave pipe, some of which is still in use. This pumping station is still viable and. the pipeline goes across the river flats crossing the Latrobe River to the treatment plant in Cross's Road.

A brief stop was made during the return towards Tyers, to view the site of the original storage basin, the earthworks of the banks still being visible.

Back at Traraigon we travelled up Liddiard Road and saw the embankment made in 1933 marking the Hilltop Reservoir. We then made our way to Black's Reservoir on Hazelwood Road, put in to service the higher areas of Traralgon. It is now an emergency service to supply the city should a need arise.

We continued on to Clarke's Road where the present-day reservoir is situated; this huge construction has a complete concrete floor and the whole of the area is roofed over. This is today's water supply and is monitored from the plant in Cross's Road. This is the water treatment plant serviced by monitor panels that relay any faults to the one person needed to oversee the plant - all very modern and labour-saving. We enjoyed our "cuppa" here while watching the monitor, and thanked Don for a very informative afternoon.