AGY-1207 | Water Supply and Sewerage Branch [I] [Department of Public Works]

Full description

On 8 March 1901 the Water Supply and Sewerage Branch [I] of the Department of Public Works was formed by the amalgamation of the Sewerage Construction Branch with the Water Supply Branch and the Water Conservation Branch. Leslie Augustus Burton Wade was appointed Principal Engineer for Sewerage Construction, Water Supply and Water Conservation on 8 March 1901.  (1)

The work of this branch included Sydney and country town sewerage schemes and stormwater channels (drainage), water supply works (dams, reservoirs, wells and pipes), and water conservation facilities (dams and weirs).  The branch also constructed pneumatic tubes in the Sydney business district. The construction of works under the Public Watering Places and Artesian Wells Act was transferred from the Roads and Bridges Branch to the Water Supply and Sewerage Branch to give effect to the provisions of the Water and Drainage Act 1902 (Act No.93, 1902). The latter allowed works of water supply or conservation to be carried out in unincorporated districts. Some of the work of the Water Supply and Sewerage Branch [I] was carried out by its sub-branches the Water Conservation Branch, the Water Supply Branch and the Sewerage Construction Branch. (2)

In 1904 the Harbours and Rivers Branch and the Water Supply and Sewerage Branch were combined to form the Rivers, Water Supply and Drainage Branch of the Department of Public Works. (3)

Endnotes
(1) Public Service List, 1902, p.129; Report of the Department of Public Works for the Year ended 30 June 1901, pp1-2; Votes and Proceedings, 1901. Vol. 5, pp.1261-1262.
(2) Report of the Department of Public Works for the year ended 30 June, 1903, pp.10-12, 112-121; Votes and Proceedings, 1903, Vol. 6, pp.676-678, 778-787.
(3) Public Service List, 1904, p.125;  Report of the Department of Public Works for the year ended 30 June 1905; Parliamentary Papers, 1905, Vol. 3, p.565.