Need for water storage
Before 1914, the fire brigade could do little without water pressure.
A proposal to build water storage was first made by T. Hannay of Geera in 1902. It was rejected as beyond Divisional Board means.
It was considered again in 1909 when Hannay suggested a tank and tower for gravity feed, but a poll of ratepayers in October 1910 rejected the scheme a second time.
Years of debate and indecision ended in May 1914 when a contract was let to Babat and Sons of Ipswich for erection of a 45,000 gallon tank on a 100 ft. tower with legs set 7 ft. 6 in. into the ground.
Supervised by Engineer Campbell Fairley, the tank was first filled in November 1914 and has dominated the Barcaldine skyline since then.
A second tank was set into the ground and the bore allowed to run into it. From this a Hawthorne Davey pump forced water through a 6 in. pipe to the tank on the tower. A shed was erected with room for an electric light plant. When first tested pressure was all that could be desired but the amount of water used horrified the councillors.
After a rate of 26 gallons per person per hour was measured, the Western Champion reported that:
‘Consumers seem to be having a game with the water’.
The matter was referred to the Hydraulic Department which replied that the mains must be leaking but the council denied that.
Control of water became an ongoing problem that resulted in complicated turning on and off of the tank, so that residents sometimes had a gush of cool water and sometimes a mere trickle of hot.
In 1943 the water tower was almost demolished when Council decided it was not needed.
Text sources include: Hoch, Isabel. 2008.
