The reservoir at Foremark was constructed in the 1970's to provide drinking water for the East Midlands. Today, it mainly supplies the water treatment works at the nearby town of Melbourne.
It is owned by Severn Trent Water, whose area of responsibility is outlined on the map below. Foremark is marked towards the left centre, just below the Derby ram.
The Reservoir covers an area of 230 acres and, when it is full, holds around 2,900 million gallons of water!
The dam wall stretches for a mile and reaches a height of 60.93 metres.
The inflow of water comes from the River Dove via a 3 1/2 mile long pipeline from Eggington, while the outflow is piped from the dam wall to Melbourne.
The area surrounding Foremark Reservoir is mainly woodland and farmland. The woodland is actively managed, with work including thinning, coppicing and the planting of an understorey of native shrubs. In the 1990s, the area to the south of the reservoir was planted with 4ha of new woodland to expand the area of the National Forest.
The reservoir supports such fish as trout, chub, roach and perch and a team of rangers work to encourage wildlife in the area, including a successful project to attract owls.
We take our water supply for granted, but reservoirs such as this are really wonderful structures.
ReplyDelete"Water, thou hast no taste, no color, no odor; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself, thou fillest us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses."
ReplyDeleteAntoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand, and Stars, 1939
This is a mighty big reservoir, and the water looks crystal clear.
ReplyDeleteCool! That is all.
ReplyDeleteOne branch of my ancestors lived in Ingleby and Foremark in the late 18th early 19th century, before they moved to work in places like Newhall, Swadlincote and Church Gresley. I wonder what the villages looked like before the resevoir was created? Next time we travel that way it would be nice to stop and have a walk around:)
ReplyDelete