Wraysbury Reservoir

Wraysbury Reservoir

Wraysbury Reservoir from the air, looking south
Location Surrey
Coordinates 51°27′39.7″N 0°31′25.2″W / 51.461028°N 0.523667°W / 51.461028; -0.523667Coordinates: 51°27′39.7″N 0°31′25.2″W / 51.461028°N 0.523667°W / 51.461028; -0.523667
Type reservoir
Basin countries United Kingdom
Surface area 2.05 square kilometres (0.79 sq mi)
Water volume 34 Gl (7.5×10^9 imp gal)

The Wraysbury Reservoir is a water supply reservoir for London, just west of the M25 near the village of Wraysbury, and directly under the western approach path of London Heathrow airport. The reservoir was begun in 1967 and completed by W. & C. French in 1970[1] with a capacity of 34,000 million litres.[2]

The reservoir is owned and operated by Thames Water; 400 million litres of water are pumped daily from an inlet at Datchet on the River Thames. A neighbouring reservoir is the King George VI Reservoir, opened in 1947, which is supplied from Hythe End. To keep the grass short and make inspections easier, Thames Water maintains a flock of sheep on the earthen banks.[3]

Wraysbury Reservoir has an area of 2.05 square kilometres (0.79 sq mi) excluding its embankment. It has been designated since 1999 as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.[4] Its citation reads:

[It] regularly supports nationally important numbers of wintering cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, great crested grebe Podiceps cristatus and shoveler Anas clypeata...[It] is an artificially embanked reservoir constructed around 1970. The reservoir also support [sic] notable numbers of wintering gadwall Anas strepera.[4]

The SSSI is close to another in Berkshire resulting from gravel extractions at Wraysbury.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The Queen Mother Reservoir, Datchet" (PDF). Ground Engineering. October 1976. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Spelthorne Borough Council - Three Rivers Ramble
  3. ↑ "The real-life reservoir dogs (press release)". PR Newswire. Thames Water. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 SSSI: Wraysbury Reservoir, Surrey Natural England. Accessed 2015-04-25
  5. ↑ Wraysbury Village Community Website
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