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The Dictionary of Sydney
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Detail showing the Tank Stream from 'Plan of th...

Detail showing the Tank Stream from 'Plan of the town and suburbs of Sydney, August 1822'

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National Library of Australia

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The Tank Stream

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Maps Rivers and Catchments Water supply

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Tank Stream

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The Tank Stream

The Tank Stream, Australia's first water supply, was a series of tanks cut into the sandstone along the sides of a freshwater stream in Sydney Cove. Although abandoned as a water source by 1826, the technology of the Tank Stream and its name were shaped by the experience of British officers in India.

Rivers and Catchments

Water supply

Maps

Tank Stream

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. The Tank Stream still flows in a covered storm water drain.

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