: Ross River Dam

The major source of water supply for the Townsville and Thuringowa cities is provided through the Ross River Dam located 20km south-west of Townsville. The dam was constructed in 1971 to fulfil the two primary purposes of flood mitigation and water storage and occupies a catchment area of 750km².

The Ross River Dam has a capacity of 214,000 megalitres and has an earth rock embankment 7.5km in length with a concrete spillway. The maximum height of the embankment is 27 metres.

Today, the Ross River Dam Pump Station and pipeline supplies up to 232 megalitres to the Douglas Water Treatment Plant. Here, the water undergoes aeration, sedimentation, rapid sand filtration and chlorination treatment processes before it is pumped to the Douglas Reservoir System where the water is then distributed to Townsville and Thuringowa.

Currently, the Ross River Dam remains closed for recreational use.

Download:
Ross River Dam Fact Sheet

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