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February 2006
Planning for Our Water Needs
Sunday picnics at Enoggera Reservoir in the early 1900s were more formal that today’s shorts and thongs affairs. The ladies wore frilly dresses and the gents were neatly decked out in smart straw boaters, batwing collars & handsome ties.
Photo courtesy of Nancy Fursman
Having grown up here in our great suburb, the regularity of summer storms, the arrival of remnant rain a ‘left over’ from the annual monsoon season up north during the longer school holiday, together with the later April showers were as predictable as certain trees shedding their bark or deciduous trees losing their leaves at certain times of the year.
Brisbane’s Lord Mayor, Campbell Newman was here in The Gap mid-January to recommission the use of water from the Enoggera Reservoir, even though it would only supply a small percentage of the city’s requirements. It was to The Gap in the early 1860s that our city fathers turned seeking a water supply for future Brisbane, which was in the grip of drought at the time, and which may or may not have been on a par with the drought we are now experiencing.
In Brisbane city, Wheat Creek had almost dried up and water was being pumped up into a tank enabling licensed water sellers to supply water to the households of our early settlers. The now-named Tank Street in Brisbane is in the general vicinity of where the original tank stood in those early days.
Following the construction of Enoggera Reservoir between 1864 and 1866, the town’s first reticulated water, running from The Gap and mostly gradient-fed, arrived in Queen Street to serve only a limited number of homes and shops. Only a very limited number of properties had access to the pipeline in our valley, and was also restricted to those properties on the southern side of Waterworks Road.
Early maps show our area having a number of properties abutting an area of land called a ‘water reserve’, whereby each had access to a stream (without the necessity to cross another property, thus preventing problems), many had wells and some constructed small dams using a horse and scoop or shovel, which required much hard work.
Not written about, but passed on by local legend or lore, has one enterprising farmer selling ‘town water’ at 1/- (10¢) per four gallon tin. It is doubtful he would have had many buyers.
After the completion, the reservoir and surrounds were the scene of many picnics, as two and four wheel horse-driven carriages arrived with men, women and children (dressed in the fashion of the day) made the trip to The Gap for a day long outing.
I can not recall the area being open to the public and one was only granted permission to explore if one courteously asked permission of the on-site caretaker. The only variation to this rule was perhaps after a local bushfire, when local men and youths had been busy putting out the bushfire and our then local Sergeant of Police, Bernie O’Keefe, ready to return to his station at Ashgrove, would declare “I’m going back for a rest” which was tacit approval to those involved to make a bee-line for the by-wash below the dam wall for an out-of-bounds swim. It was deemed the ultimate reward for services rendered, although the creek offered many, equally as good, spots in which to swim and cool off.
It was in 1927, following the building of over 20 new home in the district following the 1919-21 Government sponsored “Soldier’s Settlement”, that engineer Manchester suggested the placing of the big reservoir tank on Low’s Hill - which is now Parkdale Estate. It would be almost 50 years later that this tank came into existence and many more local homes having access to water.
Older householders well remember the sweet tasting, crystal clear water from our local source. No matter how far or wide one travelled, on returning home to The Gap saw one head straight for the tap.*
Since the dam was decommissioned a few years ago, a strong move to open it to the public for canoeing, water sports, sailing etc gained momentum, which would have been great for our community, and this will no doubt slip off the radar, for the time being at least.
Residents who cherish the use of holding a hose to keep their home gardens and lawns green, taking pride in their creation, should take heart that there are many who can hark back to the days of no supply of running water, who well remember their bucket-carrying days when they got water from the creek, dam or tank. The next stage of restrictions, and the extra effort and time required of residents, are still a long cry from the privations of early residents in the area.
Readers may like to ponder these observations:
Is the dry the result of El Ñino?
Does the population not kneel (pray!) enough? or
Is forward planning, by those in charge, being restricted to a view of past and present and future planning a thing of the past?
In 1859, as Queensland was formed from the colony of New South Wales, our early leaders wasted no time in getting water supply projects up and running - perhaps we should turn back the clock.
Editor’s note: Having moved into The Gap in 1990, from nearby Red Hill, we were perplexed by the strange appliance attached to one of our outside taps. A great many homes, built around the 1950s, still boast these state-of-the-art water filtration devices. As water levels receded one can only assume that sediment in the supplied water was causing householders concern, and each home was fitted with a mains filtration system - which necessitated the regular removal and installation of fresh ‘fabric’ filter once the sediment trapped made water flow through taps in the home, almost nonexistent. There may be many new home owners in our area, of pre-70s homes, wondering what these devices are and their purpose - now you know! I can well remember the awful orange/yellow appearance of the old filter and thinking how glad I was it was in place and the sediment wasn’t being ingested or clogging up my appliances.
Philippa Wightman
© Hot Metal Publications
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