Invercargill Water Tower — Attraction in Invercargill City

Invercargill is built on almost entirely flat land. A major landmark in Invercargill, is the Water Tower which was built in 1889.

It was built to support the city’s first high-pressure water supply tank. It was designed by consulting engineer William Sharp, and built by Matthew and Hugh Mair.

Water towers are located on high ground to provide enough pressure to send water into a municipal water supply with enough force to supply all the customers in the  immediate vicinity.

It comprises 300,000 bricks and is 42.6 metres high landmark . New Zealand suffered many great fires.

In the late 1880s the Invercargill Borough Council decided to build a water tower on part of the green belt.

Ratepayers wanted the tower but not an eye-sore on the town belt, architect-engineer William Sharp suggested blunting criticism by disguising the 300,000-litre steel tank with an elaborate brick tower.

Earthquakes don't kill but buildings do.

The building has been declared a 'earthquake-prone' hazard which constitutes a major risk to public safety and infrastructure. It includes a threat to the continuous operation of the city's main pump station.

Both the Water Tower and the control building are category one historic buildings, and at the moment have a rating of 25 percent of the national building standard.

The council basically don't want to pay to fix it because it will cost ($) millions to strengthen it.

It is ready to fall down in the next big magnitude earthquake.

In the last 12 million years the Southern Alps have been uplifted by an amazing 20 kilometres! The Alpine Fault has ruptured four times in the...

Heritage building: Completed in 1889 the Invercargill Water Tower was designed by William Sharp. Built of brick the tower stands 31.5m high and is a most impressive element in the townscape. Built originally as the primary means of pressurizing the city’s water reticulation system, the Water Tower is still a working part of that system but now in a ‘back up’ role. Pumps now pressurize the reticulation by direct pumping into the mains. However, should the power supply be disrupted and the pumping cease, pressure is provided by the tower. The square base has a hexagonal shaft which in turn supports the cylindrical water tank. The original structure had a striped cupola of ogee section giving an elegant cap to the tower. Removed in 1934 because of deterioration, in 1988 it was replaced, (with the help provided by NZAS). A feature of the tower is the superb brickwork, rich in detail and ornament. This striking element in the townscape forms a landmark in the flat terrain, the more remarkable for being one of the outstanding industrial monuments of...

Drove past it and stopped to have a look, but there is nothing to tell you anything about it. If they are not going to re-open it, they could at least have a information board with details/history on the tower. So for the moment, drive past and take a picture out the window, but there is no...