Millbrook Reservoir is a 16,000-megalitre artificial water storage

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

in the Adelaide Hills,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It was built from 1914 to 1918 during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

to control water flows in the upper

River Torrens The River Torrens , (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the ...

and provide gravity-fed water to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

's eastern suburbs. It is named after the small town of Millbrook, demolished and removed during construction. During the 1970s, the nearby town of Chain of Ponds was also removed to prevent

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

of the reservoir's water. Millbrook covers behind a clay-cored earth dam. It lies on Chain of Ponds creek, a tributary of the River Torrens. Water in the reservoir is piped from a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

near Gumeracha but it is also used to balance storage of River Murray water via the

Mannum–Adelaide pipeline The Mannum–Adelaide pipeline is a water pipeline in South Australia. It was the first major pipeline built from the River Murray to serve Adelaide. The pipeline project was started in 1949 and completed in March 1955. After suffering water re ...

. It also captures approximately half of the Torrens' water flow. John Tippett named the town of Millbrook in the late 19th century after Millbrook in his native

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

References

Dams completed in 1918 Embankment dams Earth-filled dams Dams in South Australia Reservoirs in South Australia {{adelaide-stub