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Tittesworth reservoir

Coordinates: 53°08′02″N 2°00′47″W / 53.134°N 2.013°W / 53.134; -2.013
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Tittesworth Reservoir
a wide landscape shot of green fields with a lake in the distance
Tittesworth Reservoir is located in Staffordshire
Tittesworth Reservoir
Tittesworth Reservoir
LocationStaffordshire
Coordinates53°08′02″N 2°00′47″W / 53.134°N 2.013°W / 53.134; -2.013
Lake typereservoir
Primary inflowsRiver Churnet
Primary outflowsRiver Churnet
Managing agencySevern Trent Water
Built1963
Max. length1.8 kilometres (1.1 miles)
Max. width0.6 kilometres (0.37 miles)
Surface area760,000 square metres (190 acres)
Water volume6,440,000m³ (1.4 billion gallons)
Shore length16.6 kilometres (4.1 miles)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Tittesworth Reservoir is a water storage reservoir near Leek, Staffordshire, England, fed by the River Churnet. The reservoir and associated water treatment works are owned and operated by Severn Trent Water.

History

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The reservoir was built by the Staffordshire Potteries Waterworks Company in 1858, as a compensation reservoir to regulate the flow of water in the River Churnet, which was used by several mills downstream. This was required by the Staffordshire Potteries Waterworks Consolidation and Extension Act 1853 (16 & 17 Vict. cxcviii). Supply water was extracted, naturally filtered, from underground sources, not from the river or reservoir.

On 1 January 1925, the reservoir, together with the rest of the undertakings of the private Staffordshire Potteries Waterworks Company passed to the new, public, Staffordshire Potteries Water Board.

The reservoir was extended by the Staffordshire Potteries Water Board, under powers in the Staffordshire Potteries Water Board Act 1949 (12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6. c. xl). Although authorised in 1949, the decision to proceed with the extension was only made in 1957. Work started in May 1959 and was completed in 1963.[1] Nine properties in the village of Meerbrook were flooded by the extended reservoir, including The Fountain Inn.

A water treatment plant was built immediately below the reservoir, with the treated water being stored in a 10 gallon underground reservoir at the site, before being distributed to other service reservoirs at Birches Head and Bucknall. An effluent treatment plant was also constructed below the dam, to treat the effluent from the William Tatton dying works of at Upper Hulme Mill, which were piped around the reservoir.

The Staffordshire Potteries Water Board, and with it Tittesworth Reservoir, became part of the new Severn Trent Water Authority in 1974.

Reservoir

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Tittesworth is the second largest reservoir by volume in the county of Staffordshire. The Peak District Boundary Walk runs past the reservoir.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Baggs, A. P.; Cleverdon, M. F.; Johnston, D. A.; Tringham, N. J. (1996). "Leek: Tittesworth". In Currie, C. R. J.; Greenslade, M. W. (eds.). A History of the County of Stafford. Vol. 7: Leek and the Moorlands. London. pp. 232–239. Retrieved 18 December 2015 – via British History Online.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ McCloy, Andrew (2017). Peak District Boundary Walk: 190 Miles Around the Edge of the National Park. Friends of the Peak District. ISBN 978-1909461536.
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