Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, Water pipeline and dam system in Western Australia, Australia

The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a steel pipeline that runs 530 kilometres from Mundaring Weir near Perth to the Mount Charlotte Reservoir at Kalgoorlie. Its pipe has a diameter of 760 millimetres, and eight pumping stations lift the water over the Darling Scarp and across the dry interior. The pipeline remains in service, supplying over 100,000 people in more than 33,000 households.

Engineer C.Y. O'Connor completed the system in 1903 to meet the urgent water needs during the Western Australian gold rush. The completion allowed permanent settlement of the mining areas and secured the survival of towns in the dry interior.

The names of the pump stations along the route recall the pioneering days of mining and show how water made settlement of the interior possible in the first place. Today visitors can still see the old machinery at several stations and understand how complex the water supply for the remote goldfields actually was.

Some pump stations are open to visitors and offer insight into the historic engineering work, while others remain actively pumping water. The facilities lie along remote roads between Perth and Kalgoorlie, so planning for outback travel is necessary.

The American Society of Civil Engineers designated the project as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark for its technical achievements. At the time of completion it was the longest freshwater pipeline in the world and was considered a technical gamble that many thought impossible.