Double Bay Compressed Air Ejector Station
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| Double Bay Compressed Air Ejector Station | |
|---|---|
 Double Bay Compressed Air Ejector Station | |
| Location | Cross Street, Double Bay, Municipality of Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°52′37″S 151°14′41″E / 33.8769°S 151.2447°E |
| Built | 1895–1896 |
| Architect | New South Wales Department of Public Works |
| Owner | Sydney Water |
| Official name | Double Bay Compressed Air Ejector Station; Double Bay Sewage Ejector Station No 1 (decommissioned) |
| Type | State heritage (built) |
| Designated | 18 November 1999 |
| Reference no. | 1324 |
| Type | Other - Utilities - Sewerage |
| Category | Utilities - Sewerage |
| Builders | New South Wales Department of Public Works |
  Location of Double Bay Compressed Air Ejector Station in Sydney  Double Bay Compressed Air Ejector Station (Australia) | |
The Double Bay Compressed Air Ejector Station is a heritage-listed former sewage pumping station (SPS87) and now decommissioned sewerage infrastructure in Jamberoo Lane, Double Bay, adjacent to the rear boundary of 63 William Street, in the Municipality of Woollahra local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The site of the pumping station and the State Heritage Register curtilage is shown on SHR:01324–Plan 2019, reproduced on the internet page referenced here.[1]
The Ejector Station was designed and built from 1895 to 1896 by the New South Wales Department of Public Works. It is also known as Double Bay Sewage Ejector Station No. 1 (decommissioned). The property is owned by Sydney Water, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 November 1999.[1]
In 1859, Sydney's sewerage system consisted of five outfall sewers which drained to Sydney Harbour.
By the 1870s, the harbour had become grossly polluted and, as a result, the government established the Sydney City and Suburban Health Board to investigate an alternative means of disposing of the City's sewage. This led to the construction of two gravitation sewers in 1889 by the Public Works Department (PWD): a northern sewer being the Bondi Ocean Outfall Sewer (BOOS) and a southern sewer draining to a sewage farm at Botany Bay.
Low-lying areas around the Harbour which could not gravitate to the new outfall sewers continued to drain to the old City Council sewers. Low-level pumping stations were therefore needed to collect the sewage from such areas and pump it by means of additional sewers known as rising mains, to the main gravitation system. The first low-level area serviced was in Double Bay, where the PWD constructed five compressed air ejectors in 1898 and which served the BOOS until 1929.
The first comprehensive low-level sewerage system began at the beginning of the 20th century when the Public Works Department built a group of 20 low-level pumping stations around the foreshores of the inner harbour and handed them over to the Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage in 1904. Overall, greater Sydney now has over 600 low-level sewage pumping stations.[1]
Description
The Double Bay Sewage Ejector Station No. 1 is located under the road surface of Cross Street. It consists of a steel caisson approximately 3 metres (9.8 ft) diameter which received sewage through a reflux valve. When full, a float operated valve then allows compressed air to pressurise the vessel, closing the inlet reflux valve and forcing the sewage up the rising main into a receiving manhole on the main gravity sewer. The depth from road surface to the top of the ejector equipment is 3.35 metres (11.0 ft). The compressor station was located near the intersection of Bay Street and New South Head Road.[1]
The steel caisson is 2.97 metres (9 ft 9 in) wide and carries the inscription, "Pope Maher and Co Sydney 1896 Darlington Iron Works". Other inscriptions on the equipment read, "Shone and Aults Patent Manufactured by Hughes and Lancaster London Nos. 438 and 447, 1896".[1]
Modifications and dates
The steel caisson has been filled with sand.[1]
