Ryde Pumping Station

Reference to the Ryde Water Pumping Station generally means the whole site but where relevant the two pumping stations are referred to as Pumping Station No.1 and Pumping Station No.2.  

Position of Ryde Water Pumping Station within Development of Sydney Water  

Ryde Water Pumping Stations No.1 and No.2 were created as part of the Upper Nepean Water Supply Scheme which developed from the late 1860s.

The scheme, largely in use today, was based on the gravitational supply of water from the Nepean, Cataract, Cordeaux and Avon Rivers to the Prospect Reservoir. From Prospect the water is channelled to Potts Hill Reservoirs from where it is distributed to different parts of Sydney.

In 1888, when the Water Board was constituted, a single 48in (c.1220mm) main led from Potts Hill to Sydney supplying Petersham and Crown Street reservoirs. This main was doubled in the following years and supplied most areas of Sydney including the Lower North Shore via a submarine 9in main under the harbour from Paddington reservoir. In 1891, a 24in main was added to supply the newly opened Ryde Water Pumping Station No. 1 which supplied the majority of the new suburbs being built to the north of the harbour. Another important main was also added around this time to supply the south suburbs of Sydney, then referred to as the Illawarra area. Several other branches were added in the early 1890s for direct supply of areas around Parramatta. The density of the pipeline network increased as the population of Sydney grew over the decades.

The Ryde branch remains one of the three most important geographical subsystems connected to Potts Hill Reservoir.

Water Pumping Stations 

Ryde Water Pumping Station No.1 was completed in 1891. Chronologically, it was the sixth water pumping station in Sydney area and the fourth major permanent pumping station. Like the other early pumping stations, Ryde Water Pumping Station No.1 was steam-powered. The first water pumping station in Sydney was installed in 1854 at the Lachlan Swamps (Centennial Park) which pumped water into Busby’s Bore. The next major pumping station built was at Botany Bay, housing three 100hp engines, used within the Botany Swamps scheme. The Crown Street pumping station was built in 1879 with the purpose of lifting water to the Woollahra and Paddington Reservoirs.  Other early examples of pumping stations in Sydney include the small plant added to the Woollahra Reservoir in 1886 to pump water to the Waverley Reservoir and the temporary station at Junction Street, North Sydney which operated from 1888-1892. The Junction Street station which was supplied from Crown Street via a submarine pipe preceded Ryde in supplying water to the North Shore suburbs. Each of the three major early water pumping stations were at the time of their creation the largest in the Sydney system.  

The importance of the Ryde Water Pumping Station was due to its role as being the major water supplier for one of the three geographical subsystems connected to the Upper Nepean Scheme and thus as the main supply for one third of the Sydney Metropolitan area.  The Ryde Water Pumping Station No.1 was also the first in Australia to house steam turbine engines. The station was also said to be Australia’s first to have its own electric power generators that were sufficient for its independent operation. The importance of the Ryde site was emphasized in 1921 when Station No.2 was completed. The 1921 pumping station was thought to be the largest steam-powered water pumping station in Australia. Like its predecessor, this relatively late example of a coal fired, steam powered water pumping station relied on its own independent power generating system. Pumping Station No.2 used pulverised coal for boilers which is considered innovative for the time and the station’s pneumatic ash collecting system was described as ‘state of the art’.

Architecturally, the Pumping Station No.1 was a very fine example of a public utility building with prevailing characteristics of the Victorian Free Classical style. The adjoined brick chimney, featuring a polychromatic pattern, was aesthetically one of the finest items of its type ever created in the Sydney Water system.  Pumping Station No.2 features the Federation Freestyle architectural style. The building is a good representative example of this style amongst the surviving public utility buildings. The Pumping Station No.2 building is not rare in its aesthetics or relative architectural complexity, as many other important examples survive like Chatswood Reservoir’s Pumping Hall (1895) and the Waterloo Pumping Station (1922-1924).  The structure of the Pumping Station No.2 is an early example of Australian-made structural steel. The Station also featured reinforced concrete chimneys created as an early use of this material for the construction of industrial stacks. There are other surviving examples including the Ventilating Shafts at Burwood (1919) and Croydon (1922) and are listed on the State Heritage Register. Both remain in the ownership of Sydney Water.  

During the late 1960s, Ryde Water Pumping Station was the last remaining steam-powered station in the Sydney Water system. At this time, the Major Electric Pumping Station Group were administered within the Mechanical Branch. A number of other minor water pumping stations were administered by the Operations Branch.