The Golden Pipeline

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Driving towards Kalgoorlie from Perth, you will surely not miss seeing this pipeline along the way. The Golden Pipeline is approximately 530 kilometres long and carts about 23,000 kilolitres of water per day. It delivers fresh water from a weir in Perth to communities in the Kalgoorlie region.



The pipeline was originally built to serve the thousands who flocked to Kalgoorlie in search of gold in the nineteenth century. Water supply was pretty much non-existent and hence the pipeline project was commissioned by premier Sir John Forrest and constructed by engineer CY O'Connor to meet the urgent need. It cost $5 million at that time, which would be equivalent to $1.5 billion today.



Taking five years to complete in 1903, the pipeline was a massive accomplishment. And it is still very much in use today with only fifteen workers needed to maintain and look after it.

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