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Wraysbury Reservoir

Coordinates: 51°27′39.7″N 0°31′25.2″W / 51.461028°N 0.523667°W / 51.461028; -0.523667
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Wraysbury Reservoir
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Interactive map of Wraysbury Reservoir
LocationSurrey
Coordinates51°27′39.7″N 0°31′25.2″W / 51.461028°N 0.523667°W / 51.461028; -0.523667
Typereservoir
Basin countriesUnited Kingdom
Surface area
2.05 square kilometres (0.79 sq mi)
Water volume
34 Gl (7.5×10^9 imp gal)
Wraysbury Reservoir
Site of Special Scientific Interest
Area of searchSurrey
Grid referenceTQ 025 745[1]
InterestBiological
Area205.6 hectares (508 acres)[1]
Notification date1999[1]
Location mapMagic Map

Wraysbury Reservoir is a water supply reservoir for London, west of the M25, east of the village of Wraysbury, and under the western approach path of Heathrow's southern runway. Construction began in 1967 and was completed by W. & C. French in 1970[2] with a capacity of 34,000 million litres (8,000 million gallons).[3]

Engineering design data:[4]

Parameter Value
Top water level above ordnance datum 31.1 m
Volume of water storage 35 million m3
Maximum depth of water 21 m
Water area 202 ha
Maximum height of bank above ground 17 m
Perimeter of bank 5,700 m

The reservoir is owned and operated by Thames Water; 400 million litres (100 million gallons) 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.[5] Less than 12% lay in Wraysbury, with the bulk in Stanwell and about 30% of the reservoir in Staines, however Stanwell was mostly ploughed fields and pasture until 1970 so gave its name to none of these four major features of its land;[6] to simply planning applications on completion it became part of Spelthorne – from April 2027 West Surrey and South Middlesex.

The reservoir is the site of the National Physical Laboratory's Open-Water Test Facility, used by the Ministry of Defence for test and calibration of sonar systems, as well as civilian commercial customers.[7]

It is a 205.6-hectare (508-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest[1][8] and part of South West London Waterbodies Ramsar site[9] and Special Protection Area.[10] It has nationally important numbers of wintering cormorants, great crested grebe and shovelers. It also supports many gadwalls.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Designated Sites View: Wraysbury Reservoir". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  2. ↑ "The Queen Mother Reservoir, Datchet" (PDF). Ground Engineering. October 1976. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Spelthorne Borough Council - Three Rivers Ramble
  4. ↑ Bell, F. G. (1979). Engineering Geology and Geotechnics. Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. p. 270. ISBN 9780408003551.
  5. ↑ "The real-life reservoir dogs (press release)". PR Newswire. Thames Water. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  6. ↑ Stanwell: Introduction Reynolds 1962, pp. 33–36
  7. ↑ "Calibration and characterisation of sonar transducers and systems | The UK Marine Science and Technology Compendium". naqbase.noc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  8. ↑ "Map of Wraysbury Reservoir". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  9. ↑ "Designated Sites View: South West London Waterbodies". Ramsar Site. Natural England. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  10. ↑ "Designated Sites View: South West London Waterbodies". Special Protection Areas. Natural England. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Wraysbury Reservoir citation" (PDF). Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
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