Perry Barr Reservoir

Not to be confused with Perry Reservoir, on the Tame Valley Canal, in nearby Perry Park, nor Perry Hall Playing Fields Flood Detention Reservoir in the similarly named Perry Hall Park..

Perry Barr Reservoir is a covered drinking water reservoir, in north Birmingham, England, operated by Severn Trent Water. Built for the then Birmingham Corporation Water Department, on the site of the former Perry Barr Farm, it is not, despite its name, in the modern Perry Barr area, but nearby Kingstanding, at grid reference SP083951.

Perry Barr Reservoir
Buildings at Perry Barr Reservoir
Perry Barr Reservoir
Location	Birmingham
Coordinates	52.555846°N 1.878662°W / 52.555846; -1.878662
Type	reservoir
Primary inflows	Piped by gravity from Elan Valley
Basin countries	United Kingdom
Water volume	83 million litres (67 acre⋅ft)

The reservoir is supplied by gravity from The Elan Valley, via Frankley Water Treatment Works and the trunk mains system.

The site of the reservoir, on a 1938 aerial photograph

The reservoir, completed in 1942, has a concrete dam and holds 84 million litres of water.^[1] It supplies areas such as Kingstanding, Perry Barr, Great Barr and Witton.

City of Birmingham Water Department sign at Perry Barr Reservoir

Sign describing Perry Barr Reservoir

There are two old, matching signs at the entrance. One reads:

City of Birmingham Water Department

the other:

The water in this reservoir (capacity 18 million gallons) has flowed 86 miles, without being pumped, though tunnels & pipes from the mountains of mid-Wales.

In August 2013, Severn Trent launched a £2 million project to build a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) pipeline linking the reservoir to South Staffordshire Water's Barr Beacon Reservoir, to allow for the exchange of water in emergencies such as severe droughts.^[2]

References

1. Environment Agency public register of Large Raised Reservoirs, as at 2 November 2020, via Boswarva, Owen. "Large Raised Reservoirs". Retrieved 7 December 2020.
2. "£2 million for emergency water supplies in Walsall". Express and Star. 19 August 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2013.