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Old Tank Stream Sydney c1852

Old Tank Stream Sydney c1852

By

John Black Henderson

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[a1528052 / SSV1/1852?/2]

(Mitchell Library)

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Tank Stream

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Henderson, John Black

State Library of New South Wales

Water

Finding and securing enough water for Sydney's needs has been a challenge since the arrival of the Europeans in 1788, and over two centuries water supply has prompted some of the largest engineering schemes undertaken in Sydney.

Rivers and Catchments

Tank Stream

full record »

The fresh water course which supplied the fledgling colony, emptying into Sydney Cove. It was named for three storage tanks which were constructed in the sandstone beside the stream during a drought in 1790. By 1828 the stream had been polluted to such an extent that it could no longer be used as a source of water and was diverted into a sewer, and by the 1870s it had been completely covered. The Tank Stream still flows in a covered storm water drain.