Pok Fu Lam Reservoir, formerly known as the Pokefulum Reservoir, is the first

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

in Hong Kong. It is located in a valley in

Pok Fu Lam Pok Fu Lam ( zh, t=薄扶林, links=no, labels=no) or Pokfulam is a residential area on Hong Kong Island, at the western end of the Southern District. It is a valley between Victoria Peak and Mount Kellett, around Telegraph Bay. Pok Fu L ...

Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...

. It is near The Peak.

History

Before the completion of the reservoir in 1863, the people in the city got their water by nearby

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s or wells. These methods however were unable to support the rapid growth of the Hong Kong population since 1841. Due to diseases caused by polluted water, The

Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government) is the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, following the ...

needed an urgent solution to the problem. Thus, they offered a reward of 1,000 pounds to anyone who provided a solution to disease on 14 October 1859. The colonial government also allocated a budget of £25,000 for the project. On 29 February 1860, S. B. Rawling, a clerk from

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

suggested the construction of a dam across the valley of Pokfulam to collect rainwater. The reservoir was completed in 1863. The construction did not meet the needs of the population because of budget-cuts, which left the dam to be far from adequate. Another reservoir above the original was built to meet the needs of the growing colony in 1877.

Monument declaration

Six Historic Structures of Pok Fu Lam Reservoir were declared as monuments in 2009. These include four masonry bridges, gauge basin and the Former Watchman's Cottage which is now Pok Fu Lam Management Centre.6 Historic Structures of Pok Fu Lam Reservoir
, Conserve and Revitalise HongKong Heritage

References

Pok Fu Lam Reservoirs in Hong Kong Declared monuments of Hong Kong {{HongKongIsland-geo-stub