HFF Everyone

The Elan Valley Reservoirs are a chain of man-made lakes created from damming the Elan and Claerwen rivers within the Elan Valley in Mid Wales. The reservoirs, which were built by the Birmingham Corporation Water Department, provide clean drinking water for Birmingham in the West Midlands of England. The five lakes are known as the Claerwen, Craig-goch, Pen-y-garreg, Garreg-ddu, and Caban-coch.

The Elan dam scheme was developed in the 19th century following rapid growth of the population of Birmingham in England due to the Industrial Revolution. The city's expansion resulted in regular outbreaks of water-borne diseases and major epidemics such as typhoid, cholera and dysentery because of the lack of clean water.

Victorian politician, Joseph Chamberlain, the leader of Birmingham City Council began a campaign to get clean water from the Elan and Claerwen valleys in mid Wales. The area, which had been identified by civil engineer James Mansergh, would be ideal for water reservoirs because:

1. it had an average annual rainfall of 1,830 millimetres (72 in).
2. dams could be easily built in the narrow valleys.
3. the bedrock was impermeable to water.

This photo shows a Foel Tower on the Gerreg-ddu reservoir is built in a style which, like many of the other structures of the waterworks scheme, is known as' Birmingham Baroque'. The elegant stone tower houses a system of valves and cylinders which can be raised and lowered hydraulically to draw water off from the reservoir at various depths as required. This water is then directed into the start of the aqueduct, controlled by valves.